• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
TechOpenAI

OpenAI’s new CEO once labeled himself ‘super opinionated’—and likened working for Microsoft to selling his soul

By
Chloe Taylor
Chloe Taylor
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Chloe Taylor
Chloe Taylor
Down Arrow Button Icon
November 21, 2023, 7:56 AM ET
Emmett Shear, pictured in 2016, has been named interim CEO of OpenAI after Sam Altman was ousted from the role.
Emmett Shear, pictured in 2016, has been named interim CEO of OpenAI after Sam Altman was ousted from the role.David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

OpenAI’s newly minted CEO may be insisting that all is well between the AI firm and Microsoft, but it appears he wasn’t a fan of working for the company during an earlier phase in his career.

Recommended Video

Emmett Shear—who cofounded and formerly headed up streaming service Twitch—was named interim CEO of OpenAI on Sunday after Sam Altman’s shocking ouster.

However, the tech entrepreneur is coming into the role not only tasked with winning over OpenAI’s mutinous workforce, but also seemingly unimpressed with a major business partner.

In a post to the X social media platform earlier this year, he recounted his experience as an intern at Microsoft—a major investor in OpenAI.

When I was interning for Microsoft every paycheck felt like I was getting the payment for a little chunk of my soul in the mail

— Emmett Shear (@eshear) July 27, 2023

It is unclear exactly when Shear interned for the tech giant, or in what capacity.

Until he took on the top job at OpenAI, Shear described himself in his X profile bio as “super opinionated.” That descriptor has now been erased and replaced with the biography: “interim CEO of OpenAI.”

His unfiltered thoughts on how working for Microsoft made him feel is one of a series of controversial social media posts.

Just last week he posted that “most of the CEO job (and the majority of executive jobs) are very automatable” alongside a screenshot of an article debating whether or not chief executives could be replaced with AI.

In another post earlier this year, he engaged in a conversation about sexual consent and “free use” fetishes—where participants consent to be sexually available to their partners at all times—citing a Wikipedia article to argue that “40-60% of women seem to have rape/non-consent fantasies.”

Representatives for OpenAI and Shear did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Microsoft partnership

Shear’s X post about his Microsoft internship came after he stepped down from Twitch to spend time with his infant son.

But now, the tech entrepreneur—who sold his company to Amazon for almost $1 billion in 2014—has found himself on the same team as the tech giant as he faces an employee mutiny and lingering investor loyalty to his predecessor.

In a statement published on X early on Monday, Shear insisted that OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft “remains strong.” He pledged to use his first month on the job to have conversations with as many employees, partners, and investors as possible, and “share the key takeaways.”

“I will drive changes in the organization—up to and including pushing strongly for significant governance changes if necessary,” he said. “OpenAI’s stability and success are too important to allow turmoil to disrupt them like this. I will endeavor to address the key concerns as well, although in many cases I believe it may take longer than a month to achieve true progress.”

Microsoft, which has invested more than $10 billion in the ChatGPT creator, did not respond to Fortune’s questions about Shear’s past tweets.

However, the company has publicly doubled down on its commitment to OpenAI in the wake of the chaos at the AI startup.

“We remain committed to our partnership with OpenAI and have confidence in our product roadmap, our ability to continue to innovate with everything we announced at Microsoft Ignite, and in continuing to support our customers and partners,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a post on X. “We look forward to getting to know Emmett Shear and OAI’s new leadership team and working with them.”

However, Microsoft has also remained loyal to Altman, onboarding him and ousted OpenAI president Greg Brockman to lead its new in-house AI division, and Nadella hinted in an interview with CNBC on Monday that Altman returning to OpenAI remained a possibility.

“We want Sam and Greg to have a fantastic home if they’re not going to be in OpenAI,” he said, adding that it was for OpenAI’s board, leadership, and employees to decide whether Altman could be reinstated in some capacity at the startup.

“We chose to partner with OpenAI and we want to continue to do so, and obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I’m open to both options,” he said when asked if Altman might return to OpenAI.

Altman firing

Altman was fired as OpenAI CEO on Friday afternoon, with the company saying he was “not consistently candid” with its board. Brockman quit alongside him in an apparent show of solidarity.

The move has led to backlash from OpenAI’s several hundred employees, most of whom have threatened to leave the company if the board doesn’t resign over Altman’s sacking. Investors in the company, including Microsoft’s Nadella, reportedly spent the weekend attempting to get OpenAI to rehire Altman and Brockman.

Prior to Shear accepting his new gig at OpenAI—which he has described as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”—the CEO role was temporarily held by the company’s chief technology officer, Mira Murati. Before being replaced by Shear, Murati was reportedly planning to rehire Altman back into another role at the company.

About the Author
By Chloe Taylor
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
By John KellJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIAnthropic
Anthropic’s AI models are back online after a two-week government standoff—settling the company and administration into a fragile truce
By Tristan BoveJuly 1, 2026
11 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
12 hours ago
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
14 hours ago
In this photo illustration, a Cisco logo is displayed on a smartphone with Artificial Intellingence (AI) symbols in the background.
AICFO Daily
Cisco is rolling out AI agents to every single one of its 90,000 employees
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 1, 2026
14 hours ago
senate
CommentaryCongress
One rare bipartisan AI bill is moving through Congress. Here’s why it deserves to pass
By Neil Björkman and Betsy BrewerJuly 1, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
20 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
18 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.