‘Strong, strong no’: New filings reveal who Microsoft likes – and opposes – on the OpenAI board

Former Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene is the name that drew a “strong, firm no” from Kevin Scott when the Microsoft CTO weighed potential candidates for the renewed OpenAI board in a November 2023 text series with Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, and Brad Smith.

That’s one of the revelations from the new unedited version of the series, which was previously released with dark fantasy titles. The exhibit was presented as part of Nadella’s testimony Monday in Musk v. Altman – reveals many names for the first time.

William “Bing” Gordon was suggested by Scott, until Nadella noted his connection to Amazon. The veteran gaming executive and Kleiner Perkins partner was on Amazon’s board for 14 years and maintained ties to the company even after stepping down.

At a hearing Monday in federal court in Oakland, Nadella admitted that he was opposed to Gordon and Greene because of their relationships with companies competing with Microsoft in AI.

Belinda Johnson, the former COO of Airbnb, got the opposite reaction, according to the unedited transcript. Scott called him “good,” and Nadella liked the message.

Sue Desmond-Hellmann, former CEO of the Gates Foundation, was Nadella’s suggestion. He was later appointed to the board of OpenAI.

Nadella also floated Ursula Burns, the former CEO of Xerox.

Smith, the president of Microsoft, described Anne Sweeney, the former president of the Disney-ABC Television Group and a member of the board of Netflix, as “strong, thoughtful, calm.”

He also praised Leslie Kilgore, the former CMO of Netflix, calling her “incredibly smart, tough, practical, and a great listener.”

“Yes,” Scott agreed, noting that Kilgore was on the board of LinkedIn (where Scott worked before being acquired by Microsoft). “Very reasonable,” was his assessment.

Scott went through a long list: Amy Rao, chair of Human Rights Watch; Emilie Choi, president and COO of Coinbase; Julia Hartz, founder and former CEO of Eventbrite; Ciporra Herman, former chief financial officer at Facebook and former CFO of the San Francisco 49ers; Maynard Webb, former CEO of LiveOps; and Jeff Weiner, former CEO of LinkedIn.

Microsoft’s CTO even threw a wild card into the mix: himself. “I can stop for six months and do it,” he wrote in the message, “I’m ready to be taken down by Satya this time, and it’s not really.”

Nadella didn’t like that proposal, according to the series.

By evening, a draft had appeared. Altman proposed a three-person board of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, who was also reinstated as CEO but not on the board.

Smith expressed concern about Summers. The former US Treasury secretary was wise, Smith wrote, “but cautious. I think it’s a very dangerous proposition.”

Altman agreed. “I welcome it if there are any conversations I have with him and where we are right now,” he wrote. “It’s silly but I want to save you this … can you guys live with it?”

Nadella’s response: “Can I call Larry tonight?” Altman gave him Summers’ cell phone number.

Summers served on OpenAI’s board until November 2025, when he resigned following revelations about his contacts with Jeffrey Epstein.

The OpenAI Foundation’s board today is Sierra founder Bret Taylor as chairman; Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo; Desmond-Hellmann; Carnegie Mellon professor Zico Kolter; retired US Army General Paul Nakasone; Chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners, Adebayo Ogunlesi; former President of Sony Corp. of America Nicole Seligman; and Altman, who was reinstated to the board in 2024.

After last year’s restructuring, the foundation has taken a minority stake in the public profit company OpenAI, making it one of the richest non-profit organizations in the world. Musk’s lawsuit accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of betraying the nonprofit organization’s original mission, seeking $134 billion.

At the time of writing, Nov. 21, 2023, Altman had been ousted as OpenAI CEO and was asking Microsoft executives for input on potential board members as he negotiates his return, due to Redmond’s company’s large financial stake in OpenAI and intercompany collaborations.

Musk’s lawyers say the series shows the level of influence Microsoft wields on the board of the nonprofit OpenAI despite having no formal executive role. Microsoft is a named defendant in the lawsuit, which accuses the company of aiding and abetting OpenAI’s alleged antitrust violations.

Nadella has said publicly that Microsoft does not want a board seat. He testified Monday that discussions were initiated by Altman and that the board could have ignored his suggestions.

In one of the most quoted lines of his testimony, Nadella said the old board’s handling of Altman’s firing was “newbie town.” He said he never received a definitive explanation beyond the public’s statement that Altman had never been “consistently truthful.”

Asked by Musk’s lawyer why none of his board’s proposals came from behind security, Nadella said he didn’t think security was a problem. The challenge, he said, was to make sure the OpenAI board “has the right kind of maturity to make sure OpenAI doesn’t explode.”