Microsoft has dropped its seat as an observer on the board of OpenAI, less than eight months after securing the non-voting seat. Apple was reportedly planning to join OpenAI’s nonprofit board, but now the Financial Times reports that Apple will no longer join the board.
OpenAI confirmed that Microsoft has given up its seat in a statement to The Verge, following reports from Axios and the Financial Times that Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Keith Dolliver wrote a letter to OpenAI late on Tuesday.
“We’re grateful to Microsoft for voicing confidence in the Board and the direction of the company, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership,” says OpenAI spokesperson Steve Sharpe. “Under the leadership of CFO Sarah Friar,…