Tag: satya nadella

Sam Altman to Return as OpenAI CEO Days After Ouster, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Calls It ‘Essential Step’

OpenAI on Tuesday said it reached an agreement for Sam Altman to return as CEO days after his ouster, capping frenzied discussions about the future of the startup at the center of the artificial intelligence boom.

In addition to Altman’s return, the company agreed in principle to partly reconstitute the board of directors that had dismissed him. Bret Taylor, formerly co-CEO of Salesforce, and Larry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary, will join Quora CEO and current director Adam D’Angelo, OpenAI said.

Altman said in a post on X, “i’m looking forward to returning to openai.”

The board had given few details explaining Altman’s firing on Friday, other than his lack of candor and its need to defend OpenAI’s mission developing AI to benefit humanity.

The deal to restore Altman ushers in a potentially new era for the startup – a non-profit – which long juggled concerns among staff about AI’s dangers and its potential for commercialization. Tuesday’s reshuffle appeared to favor Altman and financial backer Microsoft, which is rolling out OpenAI’s technology to business customers globally.

In a statement on X, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella welcomed the changes to OpenAI’s board.

“We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance,” he said.

Altman’s return also caps a tumultuous weekend that saw him agree to head a new research team at Microsoft, which has invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and given it the computing power necessary for its technology.

That followed a rejection by OpenAI’s board of his first attempt to return to the startup, on Sunday, by naming ex-Twitch boss Emmett Shear as interim CEO.

“While it’s still unclear exactly what the tug-of-war prompting his initial departure involved, Sam Altman’s views about how to run the company will dominate future direction, especially given he’ll be supervised under a new board,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

In a post on X, Shear celebrated the late-night outcome Tuesday, which he said followed “~72 very intense hours of work.”

“This was the pathway that maximized safety alongside doing right by all stakeholders involved,” Shear said.

Altman’s dismissal had brought uncertainty for OpenAI and Microsoft alike, which had moved quickly to control damage over the weekend by vowing to hire him and Greg Brockman, president of the startup.

Brockman, who had quit after Altman was ousted, said in a post on X that he was “getting back to coding tonight.”

Nearly all of OpenAI’s over 700-strong staff on Monday had threatened to leave unless the board stepped down and reinstated Altman, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters.

Following this show of solidarity, Altman wrote on X: “we have more unity and commitment and focus than ever before.”

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Microsoft CEO Says Google Locking Up Content Needed to Train AI While Tech Giants Compete Hard

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said Monday tech giants were competing for vast troves of content needed to train artificial intelligence, and complained Google was locking up content with expensive and exclusive deals with publishers.

Testifying in a landmark US trial against its rival Google, the first major antitrust case brought by the US since it sued Microsoft in 1998, Nadella testified the tech giants’ efforts to build content libraries to train their large language models “reminds me of the early phases of distribution deals.”

Distribution agreements are at the core of the US Justice Department’s antitrust fight against Google. The government says that Google, with some 90 percent of the search market, illegally pays $10 billion (nearly Rs. 83,200 crore) annually to smartphone makers like Apple and wireless carriers like AT&T and others to be the default search engine on their devices. 

The clout in search makes Google a heavy hitter in the lucrative advertising market, boosting its profits.

Nadella said building artificial intelligence took computing power, or servers, and data to train the software. On servers, he said, “No problem, we are happy to put in the dollars.”

But without naming Google, he said it was “problematic” if other companies locked up exclusive deals with big content makers. 

“When I am meeting with publishers now, they say Google’s going to write this check and it’s exclusive and you have to match it,” he said.

Rebuffed by Apple

Nadella also testified that Microsoft had sought to make its Bing search engine the default on Apple smartphones but was rebuffed. 

John Schmidtlein, Google’s lead lawyer, pressed Nadella on occasions when Microsoft did win default status on computers and mobile phones but users still bypassed Bing and continued to use Google by a wide margin.

Schmidtlein argued that Microsoft had made a series of strategic errors that led to Bing’s inability to grab a foothold, including a failure to invest in servers or engineers to improve Bing and a failure to see the mobile revolution.

Schmidtlein also said Microsoft’s success in becoming the default — on some Verizon phones in 2008, and BlackBerry and Nokia in 2011 — ended with the same result: users bypassed Bing and did the vast majority of their searches on Google.

On laptops, most of which use Microsoft operating systems, Bing is the default search engine and has a market share below 20 percent, Nadella acknowledged.

“You get up in the morning and you brush your teeth and you search on Google,” he added in a reference to Google’s dominance in search.

Question of quality

Judge Amit Mehta, who will decide the case being tried in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asked Nadella why Apple would switch to Bing given the Microsoft product’s lower quality.

The question suggests Google’s argument — that it is dominant because of its quality and not because of illegal activity — has caught the judge’s interest.

Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, long after the tech giant faced its own federal antitrust lawsuit. That court fight, which ended in a 2001 settlement, forced Microsoft to end some business practices and opened the door to companies like Google.

As Google, which was founded in 1998, became an industry leading search engine, the two became bitter rivals. Both have browsers, search engines, email services and a host of other overlaps. They became rivals in artificial intelligence more recently, with Microsoft investing heavily in OpenAI and Google building the Bard AI chatbot among other investments.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company’s new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Microsoft’s Salaried Staff Won’t Get Raise This Year, Reveals Leaked CEO Mail: Report

Microsoft will not raise salaries for full-time employees this year and is reducing budget for bonuses and stock awards, Insider reported on Wednesday, citing an internal email by CEO Satya Nadella.

The tech giant did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

“Last year, we made a significant investment in compensation driven by market conditions and company performance, nearly doubling our global merit budget…this year the economic conditions are very different across many dimensions” the report quoted Nadella saying.

In January, Microsoft said it would let go of 10,000 workers, adding to the tens of thousands layoffs announced before that across the technology sector as it deals with slowing growth in a turbulent economy.

Microsoft has now squarely placed its focus on generative AI, an area the industry sees as a bright spot.

In collaboration with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which also has received billions of dollars in funding from Microsoft, the tech giant has been infusing the AI tech into its Office products as well as search engine Bing.

Last week, Microsoft expanded public access to its generative artificial intelligence programs, despite fears that tech firms are rushing ahead too quickly with potentially dangerous technology.

In March this year, it was reported that Microsoft-owned GitHub laid off 142 people in India, including the entire staff in its engineering division. Those affected by the decision were deployed across the company’s offices in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi. A GitHub spokesperson termed the decision as a part of the company’s reorganisation plan.

Xiaomi launched its camera focussed flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra smartphone, while Apple opened it’s first stores in India this week. We discuss these developments, as well as other reports on smartphone-related rumours and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Microsoft Announces Up to 10,000 Job Cuts, to Invest in Strategic Areas to Remain Competitive

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has announced up to 10,000 job cuts, with notices going out to affected employees as early as today. In a memo circulated to staff and published online, Nadella outlined the economic conditions that are forcing “hard choices” such as this, but stated that Microsoft will continue to invest in “strategic areas” for its future. The total number of employees to be laid off represent less than five percent of Microsoft’s total workforce, according to Nadella. The layoffs were anticipated, with rumours leaking earlier today. As per reports, Microsoft had 221,000 employees as of June 2022, with 99,000 of those outside the US. Other large tech companies including Twitter, Amazon and Meta have also laid off significant numbers of employees recently thanks to a global economic downturn.

In the company-wide memo, Nadella cited reduced consumer spending as the COVID-19 pandemic has become less severe, and the fact that many parts of the world are facing economic recession. The layoffs are necessary to align cost structures with projected revenue, and Microsoft will continue to hire new resources where needed. While some affected employees will be notified immediately, the process is expected to be complete only by Q3 2023. 

Promising to treat all employees “with dignity and respect”, and act transparently, Nadella committed to helping those laid off in terms of adequate notice periods, career transition services, continuing employment benefits, above-market severance pay, and stock option vesting, in accordance with laws and regulations in various countries. The cost of severance as well as consolidating leased office space is expected to be $1.2 billion this year. It was not immediately clear how many of the affected employees are in the US and how many work in other locations.

Even through this process, Microsoft says it will continue investing its money and people in key strategic areas for future growth, which are likely to involve AI. The memo ends with Nadella thanking all Microsoft employees for their dedication and resilience, but includes a warning that everyone must perform better for the company to thrive.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Says Technology Should Drive Inclusivity, Empowerment

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Wednesday highlighted the importance of driving inclusivity and empowerment through technology and economic growth and asserted that the company is “very committed to India”. He was speaking at Microsoft’s Tech for Good and Education showcase, an event that highlighted the impact created by technology in the areas of philanthropic work and education.

Nadella did a walk through, interacting with teachers, students and professionals who are making a difference in the society, by leveraging various Microsoft programs, initiatives and tools.

“Looking at what you all have done, your passion, imagination and ingenuity is truly inspiring. One of the things that keeps me grounded is seeing our mission in action,” Nadella said.

Microsoft’s top boss further said the Wednesday’s event underlined that technology and economic growth are not an end, rather a “means to an end that we all aspire for.” He urged the participants to think of growth in terms of social inclusivity.

“Inclusive growth… if I think about what it means for economic growth to include everyone. Today’s examples all around are tremendous…how do we make sure whatever growth we have, is aligned with the planet because that is one finite resource…or trust in technology…” he said.

He advocated the cause of “technology making a difference in community”, and exhorted the participants to keep pushing the company to do more in helping achieve that mission.

Microsoft, he said “is very very committed to India”, and went on to add that the company is investing in the country.

“When we think about Make in India, we are investing, it is the largest place where we have our own human capital, we have our data centres, all of these Artificial Intelligence capabilities that are being used in all application, are all in some sense Made in India,” Nadella said.

He added: “Now the question is what else is India making with all of our technology.” Societal outcomes are never about one institution or one organisation alone, but a collective effort, he said emphasising that he would in fact “shy away from anyone who claims they can do it all”.

“It is not just that we are making in India but everybody else is making in India, and that is what is going to help us reach all corners of the country,” he said.

Nadella shared his vision on the role technology can play in achieving the mission of empowering every person and every organisation to achieve more.

“Ultimately it is about being able to have all people participate, and leverage each other’s skills, technologies and effort so we can transform our community and society,” he said pledging his commitment towards inclusivity and empowerment of people.

Nadella, who is on a four-day visit to India had addressed Microsoft Future Ready Leadership Summit in Mumbai on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to visit Bengaluru and Hyderabad this week, and will be meeting customers, startups, developers, educators and students, and key Government representatives during his India visit. The Microsoft leader is also scheduled to meet IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw later in the day.

Nadella, in his address on Tuesday, had said digitisation initiatives in India and the work with digital public goods have been extraordinary, as he highlighted cloud and artificial intelligence among imperatives driving technology-based economic growth in India.

During a keynote address at the Microsoft Future Ready Leadership Summit in Mumbai, Nadella had shared his vision for a tech-enabled India, and highlighted how the cloud will be foundational to scaling India’s digital journey and how Microsoft is innovating across the tech stack to support the country’s ecosystem of developers, startups and companies across every industry.

Hyderabad-born Nadella had also lauded the way in which India is building public digital infrastructure for public good.

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