Microsoft to Give Up Observer Seat on OpenAI Board; Apple Won't Hold One Either

TapTechNews July 10th news, Microsoft announced on Monday local time that it will abandon the observer seat on OpenAI's board, stating that OpenAI has made'significant progress' in the past eight months and is confident in the company's development direction, so the seat is no longer needed.

In a letter to OpenAI, Microsoft stated that it has confirmed the abandonment of the seat and it takes effect immediately. Microsoft also said, 'Thank you to the OpenAI leadership and board for their support in this decision-making process.'

Since Sam Altman was fired last November, Microsoft has been actively vying for this seat. Later, Microsoft also played a very crucial behind-the-scenes role in Altman's return to OpenAI and contributed to the change in OpenAI's corporate governance.

Besides Microsoft, the Financial Times of the UK said that Apple will also not hold an observer role on OpenAI's board. OpenAI's official website shows that it'still remains a completely independent company managed by the OpenAI non-profit organization.'

In a letter to OpenAI, Microsoft said, 'As you know, we accepted the non-voting board observer role during the period of OpenAI's board rebuilding,' 'This position has allowed Microsoft to gain in-depth understanding of the board's activities while not affecting its independence. We are honored to have the opportunity to serve as an observer role during this transformative period.'

In the past eight months, we have witnessed the significant progress made by the newly established board and are confident in the company's development direction. Considering all these, we no longer think our limited observer role is necessary.

According to TapTechNews' previous report, Apple and OpenAI announced a cooperative relationship last month, and Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to offer an observer seat to Apple executive Phil Schiller.

But according to sources familiar with OpenAI's thinking, with the exit of Microsoft, OpenAI will no longer have any observer seats on its board.

OpenAI said: 'We thank Microsoft for expressing trust in the board and the company's development direction, and we look forward to continuing to maintain a successful partnership.'

OpenAI also added that it is 'finding a new strategy to allow key strategic partners (such as Microsoft and Apple) and investors (such as Thrive Capital and Khosla Ventures) to obtain information and participate.'