Microsoft (MSFT) shares experienced a notable increase of over 2% to reach new intraday and closing highs following the appointment of Sam Altman to lead a newly established artificial intelligence (AI) team. Altman, formerly the CEO of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, had been dismissed from his role at OpenAI before joining Microsoft.

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This move strengthens Microsoft's position in the AI sector, as the company has made significant investments in OpenAI to stay competitive in the rapidly growing AI market. Microsoft's market capitalization stood at $2.81 trillion, making it the second-largest U.S. company by market cap, trailing only behind Apple at $2.98 trillion. The surge in Microsoft's shares comes amid growing enthusiasm for AI-related developments, including the introduction of a new AI chip and Copilot features, as well as OpenAI's recent unveiling of its latest AI model, GPT-4 Turbo.

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Microsoft's stock reached multiple record highs earlier this month, driven by the excitement surrounding advancements in the field of artificial intelligence. These developments have positioned Microsoft as a key player in the AI industry, alongside competitors like Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet, and Meta.

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