OpenAI Disbands Preparedness Team Amid Safety Restructuring Before IPO
OpenAI has disbanded its preparedness team, according to a report from the Financial Times. The team's job was to assess whether the company's AI models pose serious risks and to develop ways to mitigate them. Instead of a dedicated group, responsibility is now divided into specific areas such as bio and cyber security, which have been folded into existing teams across the company.
The move is the latest in a series of shakeups at OpenAI as it heads toward what is expected to be a massive IPO. Over the past few years, the company has dissolved its AGI readiness and superalignment teams, dismantling its research-led safety model. Several prominent figures have also departed recently, including ethics lead Chloé Bakalar, chief futurist Josh Achiam, and head of safety Johannes Heidecke.
The departures and restructuring draw criticism from former insiders. Jan Leike, who resigned from OpenAI in 2024, tells the Financial Times the company is ignoring safety in favor of creating "shiny products." Meanwhile, preparedness team head Dylan Scandinaro, who joined OpenAI from Anthropic in February, now focuses on the implications of recursive self-improving AI.