You compromise a few influential people in the organization to get a foot in the door and ultimately your money - which you control. Your money will do the rest.
Your initial statement was flatly wrong, and you're grasping at straws to make it still true. Microsoft wouldn't be able to get anywhere if the people who work for OpenAI chose to stay. The choice they're making to leave is still their choice, made of their own volition.
You don’t have to buy all of them, just most of them.
But they were able to get somewhere because …
> The choice they're making to leave is still their choice, made of their own volition.
Yupe. Most of OpenAI's workers chose the high SV-like salaries over the chartered mission of the organization they joined.