Nadella: OpenAI board’s ouster of Altman was “amateur city”

Satya Nadella testified May 12 in U.S. District Court during Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, calling the November 2023 board effort to remove CEO Sam Altman “amateur city” and saying it threatened the companies’ $13 billion collaboration.

Nadella described Microsoft’s involvement as strategic, driven by cloud and product plans. He recalled a $1 billion investment in 2019 that evolved into what he estimated as a roughly $13 billion partnership focused on cloud services and AI integration across Microsoft products.

On the stand he criticized the board’s public reason for firing Altman-that he had not been “consistently candid”—as vague and inadequate for removing a chief executive. Altman was dismissed on Nov. 17, 2023, and reinstated within days after employees pushed back and raised the prospect of mass departures.

After Altman’s return, most directors who led the ouster were replaced. Nadella told the court the episode revealed weaknesses in OpenAI’s governance that had direct effects on the Microsoft relationship.

Nadella also addressed Elon Musk’s role in the lawsuit. Musk filed the case in June 2024 alleging OpenAI shifted away from its nonprofit origins as commercial ties with Microsoft strengthened. Nadella noted Musk did not contact him directly to object to the partnership, despite having access to his contact information.

The trial is being held in U.S. District Court and is expected to continue for months. Investors and legal observers are watching for potential effects on how AI companies structure partnerships, raise capital and handle profit distribution.

In court Nadella repeated the description “amateur city” for the board’s action and emphasized Microsoft’s involvement was part of a business strategy rather than a charitable effort.