Washington/IBNS: American tech giant Microsoft has left the board observer seat at OpenAI which has drawn regulatory scrutiny as the former said that it was not necessary as the artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups governance has improved significantly in the past eight months, reports said.
The Financial Times reported, citing people in the know, that Apple, which was expected to take an observer role on OpenAIs board, will not do so.
According to reports, in November last year, Microsoft took a non-voting, observer position on OpenAIs board after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was reinstated.
Owing to the seat, Microsoft could attend OpenAIs board meetings and access confidential information but had no voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors, reports said.
The observer seat and Microsofts more than $10 billion investment in OpenAI have triggered unease among antitrust watchdogs in the United States, Europe, and Britain, as per reports.
Citing OpenAIs new partnerships, innovation and growing customer base since Sam Altmans return to the AI startup for giving up its observer seat, Satya Nadellas Microsoft said, Over the past eight months we have witnessed significant progress by the newly formed board and are confident in the companys direction. Given all of this we no longer believe our limited role as an observer is necessary.
