Microsoft’s Head Of A.I. Research Leaves Company

The head of artificial intelligence (A.I.) research at Microsoft (MSFT) has left the company to join privately held OpenAI.

Sebastien Bubeck, who had been vice-president of generative A.I. research at Microsoft, is moving to OpenAI so that he can focus on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), which is the point at which technology surpasses human intelligence.

Bubeck’s role at OpenAI has not been made public. However, Microsoft said that it plans to continue working with Bubeck given the tech company’s close relationship with OpenAI.

To date, Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion U.S. into OpenAI and uses the start-up firm’s technology in its Bing search engine and in other areas of its business.

Bubeck’s move to OpenAI comes after several executives recently left that company, including chief technology officer Mira Murati who resigned in late September.

Many senior executives have left OpenAI as the company pivots to become a for-profit business rather than a non-profit.

At the same time, Microsoft is advancing its own A.I. ambitions. The company recently announced plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and use the power it generates to run it’s A.I. applications and models.

Microsoft’s stock has gained 13% so far in 2024 and currently trades at $419.14 U.S. per share.