Three OpenAI leaders, including two co-founders, have left the company. It’s another sign that all is not well at the ambitious start-up after the drama surrounding Sam Altman late last year.
According to The Information, OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman has taken an extended leave after nine years at the company. Brockman confirmed the news on X, saying he now needs to “relax.”
I’m taking a sabbatical through end of year. First time to relax since co-founding OpenAI 9 years ago. The mission is far from complete; we still have a safe AGI to build.
undefined Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 6, 2024
Two other prominent departures are permanent. John Schulman, another co-founder of OpenAI, has left for Anthropic, a fierce rival firm founded by ex-OpenAI researchers. Peter Deng, a product manager, has also decamped the company, The Information said.
On X, Schulman said he decided to leave because he wanted to deepen his focus on AI alignment – the science of ensuring AI behaves responsibly and as intended – and engage in more hands-on technical work.
“I’ve decided to pursue this goal at Anthropic, where I believe I can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I’m most interested in,” Schulman said.
I shared the following note with my OpenAI colleagues today:
undefined John Schulman (@johnschulman2) August 6, 2024
I've made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment, and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work. I've decided…
Schulman, who played a key role in creating the AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT, added that he was confident that OpenAI and the teams he was part of would continue to thrive.
That, of course, remains to be seen because now, only three of OpenAI’s original founders remain – the CEO Sam Altman, Brockman who’s on a sabbatical, and Wojciech Zaremba, lead of language of code generation.
Less than three months ago, OpenAI disbanded its superalignment team, which was focused on ensuring AI systems remain under human control even as they surpass human capabilities in various tasks. Ilya Sutskever, another OpenAI co-founder, announced his departure from ChatGPT in May.
What’s more, even if everything is kosher as OpenAI insists, anonymous whistleblowers from the company filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission in mid-July, claiming that the start-up illegally restricts workers from speaking out about potential risks.
OpenAI was shaken by a boardroom drama last year when the board ousted Altman as CEO. After employee protests, Altman was reinstated, but questions about the company's stability continue.
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