OpenAI Faces Key Leadership Exits as Co-Founder Joins Anthropic
OpenAI co-founder John Schulman leaves for rival Anthropic to focus on AI alignment, while president Greg Brockman takes an extended sabbatical through the end of the year.
OpenAI co-founder John Schulman leaves the artificial intelligence company to join rival startup Anthropic. Schulman states that this move stems from a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment and engage in more hands-on technical work. He plays a pivotal role at OpenAI by leading the reinforcement training organization that fine-tunes models like ChatGPT to follow human instructions.
OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman also steps away, taking an extended sabbatical through the end of the year to relax and recharge after nine years with the company. In addition to these high-profile departures, product manager Peter Deng exits OpenAI after joining just last year from Meta. These leadership changes create significant shifts within the top ranks of the prominent AI developer.
Despite his departure, Schulman emphasizes that he does not leave due to a lack of support for safety research from OpenAI leadership. He currently serves as the head of OpenAI's alignment science efforts and holds a seat on the recently formed safety committee. It remains unclear who will replace Schulman on this critical safety committee as he transitions to his new role at Anthropic.