John Schulman, a foundational member of OpenAI, has transitioned to a role at competitor AI firm Anthropic.
Furthermore, after a nine-year tenure, OpenAI’s president, Greg Brockman, is undertaking a prolonged sabbatical to unwind, as officially announced by the organization.
Peter Deng, who came on board at OpenAI last year following his stints at Meta, Uber, and Airtable as a product leader, has also recently left, as confirmed by the organization. The departures of both Brockman and Deng were initially unveiled by The Information.
A representative issued a statement regarding Schulman, expressing, “John’s foundational work and dedication to the advancement of alignment research at OpenAI have been invaluable. His fervor and diligence have laid down a strong groundwork that will continue to fuel innovation at OpenAI and within the wider sector.”
Schulman shared on X today, his departure arose from a keen aspiration to intensify his involvement in AI alignment — ensuring AI’s actions align with human intentions — and to partake more directly in technical activities.
“I have chosen Anthropic for my next journey as it offers a new vantage point and the opportunity for research with individuals who are profoundly committed to the topics closest to my interest,” Schulman stated. “I’m convinced the teams at OpenAI that I was part of will continue to prosper in my absence.”
Schulman’s journey with OpenAI commenced soon after earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences from UC Berkeley. He significantly contributed to the development of ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot platform, by leading its reinforcement training organization that ensures generative AI models comply with human directives.
After AI safety researcher Jan Leike transitioned to Anthropic, Schulman took the helm of OpenAI’s alignment science division, often referred to as the “post-training” team. His role within OpenAI’s recently established safety committee remains to be filled following his departure.
In spite of existing concerns regarding OpenAI’s commitment to AI safety research, Schulman affirmed his departure was not influenced by any perceived shortfall in support.
“The leadership has demonstrated a strong commitment to investment in alignment research,” said Schulman. “My departure is driven by a personal decision to realign my focus in this next stage of my career.”
With Schulman moving on, the original founding team of OpenAI now consists of only Sam Altman, the CEO; Brockman; and Wojciech Zaremba, the language and code generation team lead.
“I’m grateful for all you have contributed to OpenAI!” Altman expressed in a message on X. “Your exceptional research, profound insights into product and society, and above all, your camaraderie, will be sorely missed. We pledge to continue making you proud of this establishment.”
This report was first published at 5:38 p.m. and has since been updated to include OpenAI’s verification of Brockman’s and Deng’s departures.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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