You’re Hired! To cap off one of the most bizarre weekends in tech history, Microsoft has announced that it’s hiring freshly-fired OpenAI chief Sam Altman. In a post on X-formerly-Twitter, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that although he continues to have “confidence” in OpenAI — which just sacked Altman — he was hiring the exec to “lead a new advanced AI research team” at the tech monolith. The timing of the tweet — just before midnight Pacific Standard Time, and just a few hours after OpenAI told employees that despite reports to the contrary, it would not be hiring the cofounder and now-ex-CEO back after all — suggests that despite Nadella’s insistence to the contrary, there is some strain between the firms over Altman’s ouster. This stunning saga began just a few days ago, when on Friday afternoon OpenAI’s board dropped an incredible evening news bomb: that it was firing Altman, seemingly out of nowhere. “Mr. Altman’s departure follows a deliberative review process by the board, which concluded that he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities,” the company’s board wrote of the surprise ouster. “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.” Things at the AI firm became almost immediately more dramatic shortly thereafter when OpenAI president Greg Brockman — who Microsoft is also hiring to lead AI research — and three other senior researchers at the company resigned in solidarity with Altman. Ctrl-Altman-Delete By the…Microsoft Immediately Hires Sam Altman After He’s Fired by OpenAI