Microsoft (MSFT) stocks hit an all-time high of $378.81 on Nov. 20 on the back of a tumultuous weekend for the AI sector involving the ousting of OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman. Not to be outdone, Nvidia (NVDA) stocks also reached an all-time high of $499.60, continuing a trend that’s seen its shares rise from a one-year low of $138.84.
Both stocks have skyrocketed over the past few years, with end-over-end growth due to an explosion in the AI field spurred by the onset of deep learning and generative models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
In Microsoft’s case, many experts and pundits are attributing the late November push to the Redmond corporation’s newest AI hire, former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
As Cointelegraph reported, Altman was fired by OpenAI’s board of directors on Nov. 17 in a surprise announcement. He was initially replaced by company CTO Mira Murati, who was named as interim CEO. Shortly thereafter, however, Murati was replaced by former Twitch CEO and co-founder Emmett Shear,
first and last time i ever wear one of these pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a
— Sam Altman (@sama) November 19, 2023
In the meantime, both Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman have reportedly agreed to head up a new AI division at Microsoft — this despite the fact that the Satya Nadella led company has invested some $13 billion in OpenAI.
Microsoft stocks surged on the news, though gains have been steady for the entire sector throughout most of 2023. Many other notable AI stocks have demonstrated high yield performance alongside the most noteworthy gainers — Microsoft and Nvidia — including IBM and Tencent, who currently sit at five year and one month highs respectively as of the time of this article’s publishing.
Nividia’s all-time gains come as the company shores up its position as the go-to outlet for artificial intelligence training hardware. The company has a lion’s share of the market due to its graphical processing units (GPUs), a commodity whose demand has caused prices for flagship models to steadily increase over the past decade.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Nov. 20 highs will ultimately rise, hold, or falter before the closing bell rings.
Also up in the air is Altman’s status at Microsoft. A group composed of a majority of OpenAI’s employees has penned an open letter demanding that the company’s board reinstate the former CEO, else face a walkout.
In related news: OpenAI investors push for Sam Altman’s return as CEO
