How Satya Nadella used Virat Kohli, World Cup to manage chaos around Sam Altman's sacking from OpenAI

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The New Yorker shares elaborate details on the whole backchannel saga that led to Sam Altman's exit and then his comeback. OpenAI has been one of the most crucial investments for Microsoft for its artificial intelligence ambitions and over the years the tech giant has raised its stake in OpenAI.

But, the tussle between the OpenAI board and CEO Sam Altman threatened the future of the project as Satya Nadella trusted the potential of Sam Altman and how things could fall apart in his absence. The report talked about various strategies adopted by senior executives at Microsoft including Satya Nadella and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Kevin Scott to break the impasse and get Sam Altman back at the helm of the artificial intelligence research organization.

For the background, OpenAI's board consists of many academicians or people working in non-profit organizations. Things went downhill when one of the board members Helen Toner, director at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, at Georgetown University wrote a piece criticizing OpenAI for “stoking the flames of AI hype." Sam Altman confronted her about the article and then allegedly conspired with the other board members to remove her from the board.

The thing didn't go well with the board members who decided to fire Sam Altman accusing him of being “manipulative and conniving." From the minute Satya Nadella heard the news, he knew that OpenAI was in deep trouble and he immediately called his CTO Kevin Scott, who was behind Microsoft's engagement with OpenAI. What followed was a long spell of intense discussions and using different strategies to get the OpenAI board to relent and reinstate Sam Altman as its CEO.