Yes, and this is a logical jump. Almost certainly -- I would be my own money on it -- any contract Microsoft would have signed would have contingencies around

Yes, and this is a logical jump. Almost certainly -- I would be my own money on it -- any contract Microsoft would have signed would have contingencies around breach and force majeure that would either 1) directly license or assign OpenAI IP to them, or 2) put OpenAI IP in escrow as as a risk hedge against their partner's potential liquidation. In either case, Microsoft covers their investment risk and very likely gets access to OpenAI code (and, of course, as we've seen, the ability to freely offer to hire their talent). To be frank, it's entirely possible that Sam could have been fired for agreeing to a contract like this without board approval because the existential risk OpenAI constantly faces dramatically increases the likelihood that OpenAI investors -- besides Microsoft -- would never be made whole in the case of an implosion. The "Adam D'Angelo spite" hypothesis is possible, too, but it seems far less likely that the board of such a valuable company -- no matter how inexperienced and feckless they might be -- would risk tanking the company on the personal vendetta of a single director.