Months after Microsoft gained observer status on OpenAI's board, the company is leaving its non-voting position.
In a letter to OpenAI on Tuesday, Microsoft said it has seen enough progress with the AI company that it is confident in its direction, according to Axios.
OpenAI said that after this change, it will no longer have an observer on the board, which likely puts to rest reports that Apple was getting an observer seat.
“We appreciate Microsoft's expression of confidence in our board and the direction of the company, and we look forward to our continued successful partnership,” OpenAI said in a statement to TechCrunch.
“Under the leadership of CFO Sarah Friar, we are establishing new approaches to inform and engage with key strategic partners, including Microsoft and Apple, and investors, including Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures.”
Microsoft took an observer position after Sam Altman was fired and eventually rehired by OpenAI last year, and replaced much of its board except for Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo. OpenAI's new board includes Danegro, as well as former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Instacart CEO Fiji Simo, former Sony Corp. EVP Nicole Seligman, former Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former NSA Director Paul Nakasone, and Sam Altman.
Since changes at OpenAI last year, some of its top researchers have left the company, including Andrey Karpathy and Ilya Sutskever, who later founded a new AI company called Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), which focuses on improving AI safety.