I predict the board will be fired, and Sam and the team will return and try to contain the situation.
Parting ways with OpenAI might be the only option if the org remains firm on the direction it has chosen. Build internally to reach capability parity and then accelerate ahead of them while slowly rolling out of the agreement with OpenAI, reallocating those previously committed resources internally.
“Due to the actions of OpenAI’s board, Microsoft had no choice but defend its investment in this revolutionary technology.” The pr wire writes itself.
I’ve seen this expression a lot recently and it baffles me.
The word you are looking for is “effort,” or if you prefer adjectives, maybe something like “difficult.”