OpenAI Faces Key Leadership Shifts as Co-Founders Depart
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 Anthropic. He shares in a public note that this move stems from a personal desire to focus deeply on AI alignment and return to hands-on technical work. Schulman emphasizes that company leaders support alignment research, but he wants to gain new perspectives alongside Anthropic's dedicated safety researchers.
At the same time, OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman announces a sabbatical that lasts through the end of the year. Brockman notes that this marks his first time relaxing since co-founding the start-up nine years ago. He reassures followers that the mission to build safe artificial general intelligence remains incomplete despite this temporary break.
These departures continue a clear trend of key safety-focused talent leaving OpenAI for Anthropic. Former executive Jan Leike makes a similar move in May after publicly disagreeing with OpenAI's core priorities and the dissolution of the company's superalignment team. These leadership changes happen as the original start-up faces ongoing industry scrutiny and a high-profile lawsuit from Elon Musk.