Mira Murati's New AI Venture Attracts Top Talent, Including Former OpenAI Executive

Mira Murati is assembling AI dream team after OpenAI departure

Jonathan Lachman, the former head of special projects at OpenAI, has joined a new artificial intelligence research lab founded by Mira Murati, a former OpenAI executive. This marks Murati's most notable hire since her departure from OpenAI in September 2023 to focus on developing artificial general intelligence. Murati's startup has attracted approximately 10 researchers and engineers from competitors, including OpenAI, Character AI, and Google DeepMind. At this stage, the startup remains unnamed and lacks a definitive product direction, according to sources familiar with the company. Murati's exit from OpenAI occurred less than a year after CEO Sam Altman was abruptly dismissed by the board of directors in late 2023. Following this decision, the board briefly appointed Murati, then serving as chief technology officer, as interim CEO. Altman characterized Murati's promotion as "the low point" of the ensuing leadership crisis, which nearly led to mass resignations from the company. Mira Murati's post-OpenAI move: New AI startup, $100M in the works Murati and Altman maintained a collaborative working relationship after the turmoil, with Altman praising her handling of the chaotic situation during that critical period. When Murati left OpenAI 10 months later, she expressed gratitude towards Altman in her farewell letter, stating that she wanted to create time and space for her own exploration. Approximately one month after her departure, Reuters reported that Murati was attempting to raise over $100 million to fund her new venture, although this figure had yet to be finalized. Other notable exits from OpenAI around the same time included Barret Zoph, the vice president of research, and Bob McGrew, the chief research officer. Ilya Sutskever, a cofounder and chief scientist of OpenAI, followed suit in May, founding a startup called Safe Superintelligence, which raised $1 billion within three months. Additionally, Anthropic, a significant competitor to OpenAI, was established by former OpenAI executives and has secured billions in funding, including $8 billion from Amazon.

Mira Murati's AI Startup Makes First Hires, Including Former OpenAI Executive

It's a major get for Murati's mysterious startup, which has also poached engineers and researchers from a number of other prominent AI firms. Jonathan Lachman, the previous head of special projects at OpenAI, recently left to join a new artificial intelligence research lab founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati, according to two people familiar with the discussions. It's the most high-profile hire Murati has made since leaving OpenAI in September last year to start the much-hyped venture, which is focused on the exploration of so-called artificial general intelligence. Murati has poached roughly 10 researchers and engineers in total so far from competitors including OpenAI, Character AI, and Google DeepMind. Her startup is still in its early stages -- it doesn't have a name, nor a firm product direction, according to two people familiar with the company. Murati and Lachman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for OpenAI confirmed Lachman's departure. Murati departed OpenAI less than a year after CEO Sam Altman was abruptly fired by the company's board of directors in late 2023. In the turmoil that followed, the board briefly appointed Murati, who then served as the company's chief technology officer, as interim CEO. The move was a blow to Altman. "I was like, that feels really bad," he told podcaster Lex Fridman last March. He described Murati's promotion as "the low point" of the dramatic leadership crisis that briefly consumed OpenAI. Less than a week later and after more than 730 OpenAI employees threatened to quit, Altman was reinstated as CEO. Altman and Murati continued to work closely together at OpenAI after the incident. "She did a great job during that weekend in a lot of chaos," Altman told Fridman on the podcast. When Murati stepped down from the company 10 months later, she thanked Altman in her goodbye letter. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes," she wrote in the note to OpenAI employees, which she later posted on X. She added that she was "stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." A month later, Reuters reported that Murati was trying to raise over $100 million to fund a mysterious new company, though that figure had not been finalized. OpenAI's vice president of research, Barret Zoph, and chief research officer, Bob McGrew, both left around the same time as Murati. Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist, followed suit in May of last year. He went on to found Safe Superintelligence, a startup focused on AI safety. Within three months, Sutskever's startup had raised $1 billion. Anthropic, a major OpenAI competitor, was also founded by former OpenAI executives and has raised billions of dollars in funding, including $8 billion from Amazon.