Microsoft has ditched its board observer seat at OpenAI that has drawn regulatory scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, saying it was not necessary after the AI start-up’s governance had improved significantly in the past eight months. The U.S. tech giant took a non-voting, observer position on OpenAI’s board in November last year after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took back the reins of the company which operates the viral generative AI chatbot ChatGPT. The seat meant it could attend OpenAI’s board meetings and access confidential information but had no voting rights on matters including electing or choosing directors.