Obviously the Microsoft thing is a negotiation tactic. It does make sense from an IP and hardware perspective, but I'm sure the team would be less than enthused. I think Sam's still hoping to figure out how to return to OpenAI.
One thing appears certain to me, which is that Sam won't join Microsoft. That's because his and openais employees payday is tied to openai specifically.
Go figure, his training data only goes up to February of 2023...