Back in January, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) rocked the technology industry when it announced a $10 billion investment into leading artificial intelligence (AI) start-up OpenAI. It wasn't the first time Microsoft backed the venture, having first injected $1 billion in 2019. Its total investment in OpenAI is rumored to be around $13 billion.

The heart of any early-stage company is the team of founders. In this case, there were 12 people involved in forming OpenAI in 2015, and one of them was Tesla chief Elon Musk. But none have been more instrumental to the organization than Sam Altman, who served as its CEO from 2019 until last Friday when he was fired by OpenAI's board of directors.

His removal is proving extremely unpopular with OpenAI's investors, its customers, and especially its employees, most of whom are now threatening to quit. What OpenAI's turmoil means for Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar investment is still unclear, but here's why OpenAI's implosion could actually propel the tech giant to the top of the AI industry.

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Source Fool.com