OpenAI lost 3 key leaders!

OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence, is going through significant changes as three key leaders leave the company. John Schulman, one of OpenAI's co-founders, has moved to Anthropic, a rival AI startup. Schulman shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he left to focus more on AI alignment and engage in hands-on technical work. He believes Anthropic will offer him new perspectives and research opportunities.

Schulman's departure marks the end of a notable journey at OpenAI. He led OpenAI's reinforcement training team, which fine-tunes AI models to follow human instructions. Schulman also headed OpenAI's alignment science efforts and was a member of the safety committee. It is not yet clear who will take over his responsibilities.

In addition to Schulman's exit, OpenAI's president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, is taking an extended leave until the end of the year. Brockman, who has been with the company for nine years, plans to use this time to relax and recharge.

Peter Deng, a product manager who joined OpenAI last year, also left the company some time ago. Deng previously led products at Meta, Uber, and Airtable. The news of Brockman and Deng's departures was reported by The Information.

A spokesperson for OpenAI expressed gratitude for Schulman's contributions, highlighting his role in advancing alignment research. Schulman himself clarified that his departure was not due to a lack of support from OpenAI but rather a personal decision to focus on his next career phase.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thanked Schulman on X, calling him a brilliant researcher and a great friend. Despite these departures, OpenAI is still led by Altman, Brockman (during his leave), and Wojciech Zaremba, who oversees language and code generation.