OpenAI Safety VP Lilian Weng Departs Amid Ongoing Researcher Exodus
OpenAI loses another top safety researcher as VP Lilian Weng announces her departure after seven years with the company. Her exit adds to a growing trend of safety-focused talent leaving the AI startup.
OpenAI loses another key safety researcher as Lilian Weng announces her departure from the startup after seven years. Weng, who currently serves as VP of research and safety, states she feels ready to reset and explore something new, with her last day set for November 15. She expresses deep pride in the Safety Systems team she helped build and maintains high confidence in their continued success.
Her exit is part of a much larger trend of safety-focused talent leaving the company over the past year. Weng joins former colleagues Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, who previously led the now-dissolved Superalignment team, in departing to pursue AI safety work elsewhere. Several departing researchers openly accuse OpenAI of prioritizing commercial product launches over necessary safety precautions.
Weng originally joined OpenAI in 2018 to work on robotics before transitioning to applied AI research and eventually building the safety systems unit to over 80 experts. Her departure follows the recent exit of policy researcher Miles Brundage and coincides with public criticisms from former researcher Suchir Balaji, who argues the startup's technology brings more societal harm than benefit. OpenAI confirms executives are currently working on a transition plan to replace Weng.