OpenAI is going through some leadership changes as CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and VP of Research Barret Zoph are all resigning. Big changes for the AI leader which has been at the forefront of AI.
Murati’s resignation comes on the heels of OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman being briefly ousted and then reinstalled by the board. The chaos around Altman has caused a lot of uncertainty within the company and employees and investors have lost confidence.
Murati has been at OpenAI for over 6 years and was instrumental in the company’s growth. In her departure note she said she’s been driving safety research and practical applications of AI and that she’s leaving to go explore new opportunities.
In her goodbye note she thanks OpenAI but acknowledges the challenges the company has had in the last few months. She says the company is “at the top of AI innovation” but also says it’s hard to leave a place you love. CEO Sam Altman thanked Murati and the other departing execs and said that leadership transitions are just a fact of life in fast growing tech companies.
Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, two of the key people behind OpenAI’s research, are also leaving. McGrew was instrumental in AI model development and Zoph was behind scaling technologies like ChatGPT.
Altman said Mark will be SVP of Research and Josh Achiam will lead Mission Alignment so there will be continuity as OpenAI’s leadership team changes.
He also said in a statement that there will be leadership changes at OpenAI and that 6 other execs will be taking on new roles to fill the gaps. The recent departures from OpenAI raise questions about the company’s direction and ability to stay at the top of the AI industry. Losing talent and leadership chaos will be bad for research and development.
