Microsoft said Thursday that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman will step down from the company's board of directors to dedicate more time to AI startup Manus. Hoffman joined the board after Microsoft acquired LinkedIn in 2016 and has served for nearly a decade.

He participated in multiple AI initiatives by Microsoft.

During his time on Microsoft's board of directors, Hoffman oversaw several of the company's key AI investments. He was on the board when Microsoft first invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019. Hoffman himself was an early investor in OpenAI and served on its board until 2023.

He also served on the board of directors of Microsoft's $650 million deal with Inflection AI. That deal was not a traditional acquisition, but it allowed Microsoft to bring in Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman.

Manus was co-founded by Hoffman

TechCrunch reports that Hoffman's role at Manus is co-founder and chairman, not CEO. Manus's CEO is Siddhartha Mukherjee, a physician, biologist, and author.

Hoffman said that over the past month he realized that Manus was progressing at an accelerated pace, so he needed to return to "founder mode" and focus more on the company.

Targeting chemical and cancer research

According to Hoffman, Manus is advancing what he calls "Move 37" AI, with the goal of achieving capabilities beyond human creativity in the field of chemistry, particularly for combating various cancers.

This personnel change indicates that Hoffman is shifting his focus from a role on the board of a large technology company to more direct involvement in AI startups. Beyond basic models, vertical AI applications targeting scientific research and medical scenarios continue to attract the attention of key figures in the tech industry.