OpenAI Undergoes Major Leadership Restructuring Amid Profit Considerations

OpenAI CEO Says Leadership Shakeup Aims to Flatten Structure, Elevate New Leaders - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mira Murati and other key executives leave, but Altman emphasizes their departures were unrelated to the company's restructuring. On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp MSFT-backed OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced a shift from a non-profit to a for-profit benefit corporation to make the AI startup more appealing to potential investors. CEO Sam Altman may receive equity in the for-profit company, which could be valued at $150 billion after restructuring. While the non-profit board will no longer oversee the company, the non-profit entity is expected to retain a minority stake in the new for-profit structure. On Wednesday, Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, released a written statement stating that, after much reflection, she has "made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI." Also Read: Sam Altman's OpenAI Pushes Biden Administration For Massive 5GW Data Centers Equivalent To Output Of 5 Nuclear Reactors, Enough To Power Nearly 3M Homes: Report. Last year, Mira Murati served as an interim CEO when Sam Altman had to step down from his CEO position. The decision for this leadership change comes after the board's intensive review process. Concerns were raised regarding Altman's transparency in communications with the board, ultimately leading to a loss of confidence in his leadership. Within five days, he was reinstated as CEO, and the board that fired Altman was almost entirely replaced following employee rebellion, cementing his position at the firm's helm. Two other top OpenAI executives, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and another research leader, Barret Zoph, also left the AI Startup. In a social media post, CEO Sam Altman said all the executives' decisions were made "independently of each other and amicably." As per a Bloomberg report, Altman said the executive departures were unrelated to the company's shift to a profit-for-organization model. The report highlighted that Altman said he would use the shakeup to "flatten" OpenAI's structure, naming several employees who'd start reporting directly to him, and promote a "new generation of leaders." "I saw some stuff that this was related to a restructure; that's totally not true," Bloomberg noted, citing Altman's comments at the Italian Tech Week in Turin on Thursday." "This is just about people being ready for new chapters in their lives." Read Next: Bank Of America's New Banking Account Helps Parents Teach Kids Money Management: Details. Photo by jamesonwu1972 on Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

OpenAI considering restructuring to for-profit, CTO Mira Murati and two top research execs depart

Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI, in Laguna Beach, Calif., in 2023.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images file OpenAI's board is considering plans to restructure the firm to a for-profit business, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are ongoing. The company will retain its non-profit segment as a separate entity, the source said. The structure would be more straightforward for investors and would make it easier for OpenAI employees to realize liquidity, the source added. News of the discussions comes after OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said Wednesday that she is leaving the company after six and a half years. Later in the day, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said research chief Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, a research vice president, are also departing, as the high-valued artificial intelligence startup continues to lose top talent. Murati wrote in a memo to the company that she's "stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." She said her focus will be on ensuring a "smooth transition." "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI," she wrote in the memo, which she also published on social media site X. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right." Altman wrote in a late afternoon post on X that McGrew and Zoph were leaving, and that their decisions were independent of each other. "The timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership," Altman wrote. They're the latest high-level executive to depart OpenAI, which has exploded in popularity and value since releasing the ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike announced their departures in May. Co-founder John Schulman said last month that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic. OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, is currently pursuing a funding round that would value the company at more than $150 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because details of the round have not been made public. Thrive Capital is leading the round and plans to invest $1 billion, and Tiger Global is planning to join as well. Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple are reportedly also in talks to invest. While OpenAI has been in hyper-growth mode since late 2022, it's been simultaneously riddled with controversy and executive departures, with some current and former employees concerned that the company is growing too quickly to operate safely. Murati became a well-known name when OpenAI's board abruptly ousted Altman last November and Murati was named interim CEO. OpenAI's board said in a statement at the time that Altman had not been "consistently candid in his communications with the board." The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported that Sutskever trained his focus on ensuring that AI would not harm humans, while others, including Altman, were instead more eager to push ahead with delivering new technology. Almost all of OpenAI's employees had signed an open letter saying they would leave in response to the board's action. Days later, Altman was back at the company and Murati moved back to her former role as CTO. Board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley were out. Sutskever was removed from the board but remained an employee at the time. Murati raised eyebrows in June, telling an audience at The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live conference that new artificial intelligence tools will likely lead to the disappearance of some creative jobs. "Some creative jobs maybe will go away, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place if the content that comes out of it is not very high quality," Murati said in an on-stage interview, adding, "I really believe that using it as a tool for education [and] creativity will expand our intelligence and creativity and imagination." McGrew wrote in a departing post on Wednesday that, since joining "the small non-profit" in January 2017, OpenAI has "become the most important research and deployment company in the world." He said he's taking a break, and that Mark Chen will lead the research team. In a post on X, Zoph called it a "natural point for me to explore new opportunities outside of OpenAI." He added that the "post-training team has many talented leaders and is being left in good hands."

OpenAI undergoes major shakeup

Three OpenAI executives have announced their departure from the AI company amid reports the ChatGPT maker is considering restructuring into a for-profit business. OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati announced her resignation Wednesday, saying in a statement on X that "this moment feels right" to step away after six-and-half-years with the company. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she wrote. Just hours after Murati's announcement, OpenAI's chief research officer Bob McGrew and a vice president of research, Barret Zoph, both revealed they would also be leaving the company. McGrew, who is leaving OpenAI after eight years, said in a statement posted to X that it was "time for me to take a break." "The last eight years of OpenAI has been a humbling and awe-inspiring journey," he said. "The small non-profit I joined in January 2017 has become the most important research and deployment company in the world." Zoph also explained his "difficult decision" to leave the AI company in a post on X, describing the current moment as "a natural point for me to explore new opportunities outside of OpenAI." "This is a personal decision based on how I want to evolve the next phase of my career," he wrote. "OpenAI is doing and will continue to do incredible work and I am very optimistic about the future trajectory of the company and will be rooting everybody on." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post of his own Wednesday night that the three company leaders had made their decisions to leave "independently of each other and amicably." "[T]he timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership," he said. "I am extremely grateful to all of them for their contributions." The latest departures follow a string of resignations from OpenAI earlier this year. Co-founder Ilya Sutskever and machine learning researcher Jan Leike both left the company in May, while co-founder John Schulman resigned last month. The turnover at the top of the company also comes as OpenAI is reportedly considering restructuring to become a for-profit business. As part of the restructuring, the company would become a public benefit corporation, a for-profit entity aimed at bettering society and would no longer be controlled by its nonprofit board, Reuters first reported Wednesday.

OpenAI executives exit as CEO works to make the company for-profit

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mira Murati, the chief technology officer at OpenAI, the influential artificial intelligence startup, said Wednesday that she would leave the company after working there for more than six years. In a memo she sent to employees and later shared on the social platform X, Murati said that she was stepping away to "create the time and space to do my own exploration," though she did not elaborate on what those next steps would be. "For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built," she said. Hours later, OpenAI's chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a vice president of research, Barret Zoph, announced their plans to leave as well. Zoph said in a post on X that he was "exploring new opportunities," while McGrew did not post publicly. They are exiting OpenAI as CEO Sam Altman and others are working to transform it into a traditional for-profit company, according to two people familiar with the talks. That is not expected to happen until next year. Murati and the other executives are the latest in a string of high-profile departures in a turbulent year for the company, which includes the surprise ouster and reinstatement five days later of Altman, who is also a co-founder of OpenAI. Murati was appointed to lead the company during the power struggle, before rejecting the role just two days later. She has remained one of the public faces of the startup, making frequent public appearances to discuss its technology. A spokesperson for OpenAI declined to comment beyond what the executives posted online. McGrew did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a reply to Murati on X, Altman thanked her for her years at the company and said he would provide more information on the leadership transition in the coming days. "It's hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally," he wrote. Late Wednesday, Altman said on social media that the departures of McGrew and Zoph were unrelated to the resignation of Murati but that "it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership." The turmoil at OpenAI has been closely watched by investors and competitors. The startup is in talks with Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple and others for a new round of investment that could value the company at as much as $150 billion, a huge leap from its last round at $80 billion. Over the past nine months, OpenAI has more than doubled in size, with more than 1,700 employees. It is controlled by the board of a nonprofit organization that was created in late 2015 by Altman and his co-founders to oversee the startup's technologies. In recent months, the company has added a number of seasoned executives, including new heads of product, a new chief financial officer and a head of global policy to handle relationships in Washington and across the world. The company has also stressed its focus on making its technology safe for widespread use. But as new executives have come in, a number of longtime OpenAI managers and researchers have headed out the door. Of the 13 people who helped found OpenAI in 2015 with a mission to create artificial general intelligence, or AGI -- a machine that can do anything the human brain can do -- only three remain. One of the remaining founders, Greg Brockman, the company's president, has taken a leave of absence through the end of the year, citing the need for time off after nearly a decade of work. The two executives who announced their departures in the wake of Murati's resignation were among those who formed the core of OpenAI's research team over the past several months. The company has also added key researchers during this time, most notably Noam Brown, a former Meta researcher who specializes in the "reasoning" techniques that help drive OpenAI's latest technology, called OpenAI o1.

OpenAI CTO Murati resigns as ChatGPT-maker restructures

OpenAI will no longer be a not-for-profit corporation and chief executive Sam Altman will receive equity in the company. Chief technology officer and interim CEO during Sam Altman's brief ousting last year, Mira Murati announced yesterday (25 September) that she is leaving OpenAI. "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI," Murati wrote in a statement posted to X. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." Murati's decision to leave seems to have some as a surprise, even to Altman, who wrote on X: "When Mira informed me this morning that she was leaving, I was saddened but of course support her decision." Along with Murati's departure, research VP Barret Zoph and chief research officer Bob McGrew also announced they are leaving the company. However, Altman was quick to clarify that the resignations come independent of each other. As replacements, Mark Chen, a research vice-president is being promoted to senior VP of research, with Jakub Pachocki as chief scientist. Josh Achiam, a research scientist at OpenAI is set to become its head of mission alignment, while Matt Knight will continue as the company's chief information security officer. Yesterday's exodus was not the first of its kind at OpenAI. Earlier this year, OpenAI co-founder John Schulman and former executive Jan Leike announced their departures to join Anthropic, a rival AI company. Leike spoke out against the company shortly after resigning, claiming he disagreed with OpenAI's leadership about the company's core priorities "for some time" and that these issues had reached a "breaking point". Co-founder Ilya Sutskever resigned from the company to start his own safety-focused AI company. Andrej Karpathy, another co-founder of OpenAI, left the company in February to work on founding an AI education start-up. Meanwhile, co-founder Greg Brockman went on sabbatical earlier this year. OpenAI to become a for-profit company Yesterday, Reuters exclusively reported that OpenAI will be restructuring its business from a non-profit into a for-profit corporation. While OpenAI non-profit will continue to exist as an entity, owning a minority stake, its board will no longer control the company. Chief executive Sam Altman will also receive equity in OpenAI for the first time, set to be valued at close to $150bn after its restructuring. Additionally, the cap on returns for investors is also set to be removed. However, sources from within the company said that the details and a timeline for the restructuring are yet to be finalised with lawyers and shareholders. "We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone, and we're working with our board to ensure that we're best positioned to succeed in our mission. The non-profit is core to our mission and will continue to exist," a spokesperson told Reuters. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

OpenAI could switch to for-profit company giving Sam Altman a stake

Chief technology officer Mira Murati is also the latest senior staffer to step down in a leadership shake-up OpenAI is reportedly pushing ahead with plans to transform into a for-profit company and is in discussions to give chief executive Sam Altman an equity stake in the firm, which comes as the ChatGPT maker saw a series of senior staff departures. "OpenAI remains an entirely independent company governed by the OpenAI Nonprofit," the company states on its website, which has been one of the issues of contention that contributed to the short-lived board coup against Altman and a lawsuit against the company by cofounder Elon Musk. The news of the restructuring was first reported by Reuters which citedunnamed sources. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported it could give Altman a 7 per cent stake in OpenAI. The company is reportedly undergoing a new funding round that could value it at more than $150 billion (€134 billion). Meanwhile, on Wednesday, chief technology officer Mira Murati said in a written statement that, after much reflection, she has "made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI". "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she said. Two other top executives are also on their way out, CEO Sam Altman announced later on Wednesday. The decisions by Murati, as well as OpenAI's chief research officer Bob McGrew and another research leader, Barret Zoph, were made "independently of each other and amicably," Altman said in a note to employees he shared on social media. They are the latest high-profile departures from San Francisco-based company, which started as a nonprofit research laboratory and is best known for making ChatGPT. Its president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, said in August he was "taking a sabbatical" through the end of the year. Another co-founder, John Schulman, left in August for rival Anthropic, founded in 2021 by a group of ex-OpenAI leaders. Yet another co-founder, Ilya Sutskever, who led a team focused on AI safety, left in May and has started his own AI company. Days after Sutskever's departure, his safety team co-leader Jan Leike also resigned and criticised OpenAI for letting safety "take a backseat to shiny products." Murati spoke positively of the company and Altman in a departing note to colleagues shared on social media, describing it as "at the pinnacle of AI innovation" and saying it's hard to leave a place one cherishes. Altman expressed his gratitude for Murati's service and said leadership changes are natural for a fast-growing company. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company," Altman said in a post on X that also announced that six other people were taking new roles. Murati was suddenly catapulted to be the company's interim CEO late last year after the board of directors fired Altman, sparking upheaval in the AI industry. The company later brought in another interim CEO before restoring Altman to his leadership role and replacing most of the board members who ousted him.

More OpenAI executives depart amid reports of for-profit business

Two more OpenAI executives announced their departure from the artificial intelligence (AI) company Wednesday amid reports that the ChatGPT maker is considering restructuring into a for-profit business. OpenAI's chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a vice president of research, Barret Zoph, both announced they would be leaving the company, just hours after chief technology officer Mira Murati shared that she was departing. McGrew, who is leaving OpenAI after eight years, said in a statement posted to X on Wednesday night that it was "time for me to take a break." "The last eight years of OpenAI has been a humbling and awe-inspiring journey," he said. "The small non-profit I joined in January 2017 has become the most important research and deployment company in the world." Zoph also explained his "difficult decision" to leave the AI company in a post on X, describing the current moment as "a natural point for me to explore new opportunities outside of OpenAI." "This is a personal decision based on how I want to evolve the next phase of my career," he wrote, adding, "OpenAI is doing and will continue to do incredible work and I am very optimistic about the future trajectory of the company and will be rooting everybody on." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a post of his own Wednesday night that the three company leaders had made their decisions to leave "independently of each other and amicably." "[T]he timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership," he said. "I am extremely grateful to all of them for their contributions." The latest departures follow a string of resignations from OpenAI earlier this year. Co-founder Ilya Sutskever and machine learning researcher Jan Leike both left the company in May, while co-founder John Schulman resigned last month. The turnover at the top of the company also comes as OpenAI is reportedly considering restructuring to become a for-profit business. As part of the restructuring, the company would become a public benefit corporation, a for-profit entity aimed at bettering society, and would no longer be controlled by its non-profit board, Reuters first reported Wednesday. Altman could also potentially receive a 7 percent equity stake in the company, according to Bloomberg.

CTO Mira Murati exits OpenAI, Sam Altman eyes 7% stakes in firm

According to a recent article by Reuters, the ChatGPT maker's restructuring will ensure that the firm's core business will no longer be controlled by a non-profit board. Moreover, it is also being reported that the company's CEO Sam Altman will likely receive equity stake in the restructured for-profit company. Reports mention that the restructuring is aimed at making the company more lucrative for the investors, however, more details on it are yet to emerge. It also remains to be seen how the restructured firm will manage the question of risks, and security surrounding AI. The other big news from the company is that three top technical executives have announced their exit in a short span of time. The exits of OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, VP Research Barret Zoph, and Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew were announced in quick succession on Wednesday. The same was verified through a post on X by Altman. In which he stated that the positions will be soon filled in, and it would not affect the company's work. A few months earlier, OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever had also parted ways with the ChatGPT-maker company. He had announced a startup and stated that it will target building a safe superintelligence. Sutskever's startup also had his former OpenAI colleague Daniel Levy, and Apple's former AI lead Daniel Gross in major roles.

OpenAI Execs Mass Quit as Company Removes Control From Non-Profit Board and Hands It to Sam Altman

ChatGPT maker OpenAI is losing even more executives -- right as Reuters reports that it's looking to restructure its core business and wrestle control away from its non-profit board. The restructuring could turn the already for-profit company into a more traditional startup and give CEO Sam Altman even more control -- including likely equity worth billions of dollars. As Reuters points out, the move will likely make the company more attractive to investors, who have already poured many billions into it. But OpenAI executives are seemingly far less impressed with the plans. On Wednesday afternoon, OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati, VP of research Barret Zoph, and chief research officer Bob McGrew all announced they would be leaving the company, suggesting major inner turmoil at the company. In a statement posted to X, Altman downplayed the major shakeup. "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding," he wrote. " I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company, and I think the reasons Mira explained to me (there is never a good time, anything not abrupt would have leaked, and she wanted to do this while OpenAI was in an upswing) make sense." According to Reuters' sources, details regarding the restructuring are still being finalized behind the scenes and there's no official timeline until the restructuring comes into effect. Nonetheless, it's yet another instance that highlights the ongoing power struggle at the top of the company's executive board. Who could forget the time when the company abruptly fired Altman only to rehire him five days later? OpenAI hasn't been a primarily non-profit company since 2019, when it added a for-profit arm to its organizational structure. The move proved controversial enough for co-founder and multi-hyphenate billionaire Elon Musk to quit in disgust. Since then, it has raised billions of dollars in funding, including a juicy $13 billion contract with corporate tech giant Microsoft. It has seen its valuation rocket from just $14 billion in 2021 to potentially $150 billion lately, according to its latest financing efforts. Meanwhile, the company is burning through cash at an alarming rate. According to a July analysis by The Information, OpenAI could lose as much as $5 billion this year as it rapidly expands the infrastructure needed to sustain increasingly electricity- and water-hungry AI models. OpenAI's non-profit arm was originally created to ensure that it was developing a "safe" artificial general intelligence, an AI that surpasses human capabilities and that "benefits all of humanity," according to its mission statement. In a statement to Reuters, an OpenAI spokesperson claimed that the "non-profit is core to our mission and will continue to exist." But whether it'll have any sway in a largely Altman-controlled for-profit governing structure remains unclear at best. And its commitment to holding itself accountable has been shaky at best. In May, the company dissolved its safety-oriented Superalignment team only to put Altman in charge of a replacement safety board. The former Superalignment team was created to ensure that future powerful AIs are aligned with humanity if they were to ever become clever enough to outsmart us. Many former members of this team have voiced concerns over OpenAI's ability to do just that after quitting. Whether OpenAI will ever get even close to realizing AGI remains to be seen. The company's current crop of AI models are still wrestling with the same problems earlier iterations have also suffered from, including "hallucinations," and an inability to make sense of data in a logically sound way. And the pressure is on -- with a valuation of well over $100 billion, investors are likely going to ask some big questions that Altman and the other remaining executives may struggle to answer in the future. "There's an exodus of executives from OpenAI, the company is burning billions a year, its enterprise offerings are widely criticized, Sam Altman appears to spend half of his day doing podcasts, and there is still no proven business model," author and tech columnist Brian Merchant tweeted. "This company is seeking a $150 billion valuation."

OpenAI's technology chief Mira Murati, two other research executives to leave

Open AI's chief technology officer Mira Murati speaks during OpenAI's new model 'GPT-4o' release event, May 13. Captured from OpenAI YouTube Three top technical leaders at Microsoft-backed OpenAI quit on Wednesday, the latest in a string of executive departures this year coming at a time of flux for the ChatGPT maker. Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, VP Research Barret Zoph and Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew all announced their departures via X on Wednesday afternoon. The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup is negotiating a new $6.5 billion financing round valuing the company at $150 billion, contingent on the company upending its corporate structure. The company plans to restructure to a for-profit benefit corporation and will give CEO Sam Altman an equity stake, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Currently, a non-profit board controls the for-profit entity, an unusual structure which led to members of the non-profit board ousting Altman in November 2023 over a breakdown in communication and loss of trust. He was reinstated after five days. The funding round has not closed yet and the company is in the process of finalizing it. It was unclear whether the executives' departure could affect the ongoing fundraise. Some fundraising documents contain a "material adverse change" clause which allows investors to withdraw from a deal if the company encounters anything that could have a significant negative impact. Murati is still working at OpenAI while she negotiates her exit from the company, according to a source close to Murati. She has been part of the ChatGPT maker for six and a half years, and briefly served as CEO in November when the board temporarily Altman. According to her LinkedIn profile, Murati joined OpenAI as the "VP of Applied AI and Partnerships" in December 2020 and was promoted to CTO in May 2022. Prior to OpenAI, she worked at virtual and augmented reality startup Leap Motion and at Tesla. As CTO, Murati frequently appeared alongside Altman as the public face of the ChatGPT maker. When OpenAI launched its GPT-4o model in May, capable of having realistic voice conversation, Murati led the presentation. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," Murati wrote a post on X. Murati, Zoph and McGrew are the latest in a string of OpenAI executive departures. In August, OpenAI co-founder John Schulman said on X that he had joined rival AI company Anthropic and another co-founder, Greg Brockman, also said on X he was taking a sabbatical through the end of the year. A third co-founder, chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, left OpenAI in May. On X, Altman said Murati did not inform him in advance of her departure, explaining to him that she wanted to do it when the company was in an upswing and that "there is never a good time." In the same post, Altman also announced a slew of internal promotions: Matt Knight to chief information security officer, Josh Achiam to head of mission alignment and Mark Chen to senior vice president of Research. (Reuters)

Only one person is left from this iconic photo of the OpenAI leadership team

OpenAI is bleeding its top executives, and one picture shows just how stark the contrast has been in just over a year. Of the four OpenAI executives in the March 2023 photo featured above, two have left the company and one is on leave. CEO Sam Altman is the only one actively working for the company. The latest departure is Mira Murati, the company's chief technology officer, who said in a Wednesday note posted to X that she was stepping away after six-and-a-half years. One of Altman's most trusted advisers, Murati was in charge of much of the company's day-to-day operations, the Wall Street Journal reported. Yet, she also played a role in ousting Altman as CEO last year before he returned to the top job days later. Murati reportedly wrote a private memo to Altman questioning his management and shared her concerns with the board of directors. The OpenAI board in part seized upon Murati's criticism to force Altman out, the New York Times reported. Murati's departure comes as OpenAI plans to convert to a for-profit company after being founded as a nonprofit. The change takes it away from its original creed: "to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return." In response to a question about Murati's departure, a spokesperson for OpenAI referred Fortune to a post on X by Altman. Another instrumental player in Altman's ouster was cofounder and board member Ilya Sutskever. The AI researcher raised alarms about Altman not paying attention to the risks that come with AI and said the CEO "was not consistently candid" with the board. After Altman was restored as CEO, Sutskever stayed on at the company as its chief scientist, but was removed from the board and mostly stayed out of the spotlight. After almost a decade, Sutskever left OpenAI in May to start his own AI company, Safe Superintelligence. Rounding out the departed executives in the picture is president Greg Brockman, who publicly resigned from the company after Altman was ousted last November. Brockman said in a post on X last month that he was taking a sabbatical through the end of the year. "First time to relax since cofounding OpenAI nine years ago," Brockman wrote in the post. OpenAI has also lost several employees who aren't in the iconic picture from March 2023. On Wednesday, along with Murati, the company lost its chief research officer Bob McGrew and a vice president of research who worked on ChatGPT, Barret Zoph, the Journal reported. Last month, cofounder John Schulman also jumped ship to go work at AI competitor Anthropic. In a post on X Wednesday, Altman wished Murati and the other two departing employees well, though he acknowledged that Wednesday's exodus of senior talent was unusual. "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding," he wrote. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company..."

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati and Two Other Top Execs Leave Company

A high-ranking executive at OpenAI who served a few days as its interim CEO during a period of turmoil last year said she's leaving the artificial intelligence company. Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, said in a written statement Wednesday that, after much reflection, she has "made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI." "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she said. Two other top executives are also on their way out, CEO Sam Altman announced later Wednesday. The decisions by Murati, as well as OpenAI's Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and another research leader, Barret Zoph, were made "independently of each other and amicably," Altman said in a note to employees he shared on social media. They are the latest high-profile departures from San Francisco-based OpenAI, which started as a nonprofit research laboratory and is best known for making ChatGPT. Its president and co-founder, Greg Brockman, said in August he was "taking a sabbatical" through the end of the year. Another co-founder, John Schulman, left in August for rival Anthropic, founded in 2021 by a group of ex-OpenAI leaders. Days after Sutskever's departure, his safety team co-leader Jan Leike also resigned and leveled criticism at OpenAI for letting safety "take a backseat to shiny products." Murati spoke positively of the company and Altman in a departing note to colleagues shared on social media, describing it as "at the pinnacle of AI innovation" and saying it's hard to leave a place one cherishes. Altman expressed his gratitude for Murati's service and said leadership changes are natural for a fast-growing company. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company," Altman said in a post on X that also announced that six other people were taking new roles. Murati was suddenly catapulted to be the company's interim CEO late last year after the board of directors fired Altman, sparking upheaval in the AI industry. The company later brought in another interim CEO before restoring Altman to his leadership role and replacing most of the board members who ousted him.

More OpenAI staffers, including CTO, announce departure

Three key OpenAI staff members - CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and Research VP Barret Zoph - are leaving the ChatGPT maker. Murati described the decision as "difficult," but wrote that "this moment feels right." She said she is leaving "because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." Murati was joined by McGrew, who said: "It is time for me to take a break." Regarding his departure, Zoph stated: "This is a personal decision based on how I want to evolve the next phase of my career." Murati briefly served as OpenAI CEO during the firing and rehiring of Sam Altman last year. Altman posted a glowing tribute to the departing staffers and called Murati "instrumental to OpenAI's progress and growth the last 6.5 years." The OpenAI boss also insisted that the other departures were entirely coincidental and "decisions made independently of each other." Jason Wong, Gartner analyst, told The Register: "It's clear with the departures of the co-founders, and high-profile engineering leaders, that OpenAI is being remade with Sam's vision. His manifesto and the shift to a for-profit entity also reinforces his vision for the business. "This could have significant impact on OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft, which clearly stated they view OpenAI as a competitor. Microsoft has already started to downplay the importance of OpenAI models in their overall AI strategy. For enterprises, uncertainty is not good for business and key tech investments like generative AI. Other frontier models - especially more open ones - have caught up to OpenAI, which will further influence decisions to derisk by moving away from OpenAI or spread their risk using other models." AI expert Dr Gary Marcus described the events at OpenAI as a "slow-motion train wreck." OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever quit earlier this year. Another co-founder, Greg Brockman, announced he would be taking a sabbatical until the end of the year, and now Murati is leaving. It's almost as if a person had asked ChatGPT to write a soap opera set in an absurdly overvalued AI company. Murati's departure comes alongside a Reuters report citing sources saying OpenAI is working on a plan that will take control away from its non-profit board and instead restructure the business as a for-profit corporation. Such a move could lead to Altman receiving equity in the for-profit company, making the timing of Murati's departure even more interesting. Other reports earlier in September put OpenAI's value at $150 billion as part of an impending funding round. Quite a jump from the $90 billion figure thrown around a year ago. Marcus wrote: "GPT-5 hasn't dropped, Sora hasn't shipped, the company had an operating loss of $5 billion last year, there is no obvious moat, Meta is giving away similar software for free, many lawsuits pending. "Yet people are valuing this company at $150 billion dollars. "Absolutely insane. Investors shouldn't be pouring more money at higher valuations, they should be asking what is going on." When we asked OpenAI for comment, it had nothing to add about the departures specifically, with a spokesperson saying: "We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone and as we've previously shared we're working with our board to ensure that we're best positioned to succeed in our mission. The nonprofit is core to our mission and will continue to exist." It didn't mention whether the non-profit would actually have control, however. ®

Mira Murati leaving OpenAI highlights how much the company is starting to look like any other Big Tech giant

The sudden resignation of OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati on Wednesday marks the end of an era for the AI frontrunner, just as the contours of its next phase start to become clearer. Murati's departure, alongside two other senior staffers, comes as the company is reportedly preparing to announce a new structure that will see its for-profit arm no longer subservient to the board of its non-profit foundation. The changes highlight the extent to which OpenAI has been radically transformed in 10 months since company CEO Sam Altman was briefly ousted and then rehired in November 2023. Murati informed Altman of her decision on Wednesday morning, before telling the world a few hours later. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right," she said on X. "She wanted to do this while OpenAI was in an upswing," said Altman in his own post. "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding," said Altman. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company." However, Murati's imminent departure -- she's hanging around for a handover, though the new CTO hasn't yet been named -- may help OpenAI to present itself as a normal Big Tech company, at an opportune time. OpenAI began life as a non-profit foundation, supported by donations from the likes Elon Musk and billionaire LinkedIN cofounder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman. More recently it has operated as a non-profit organization with the prime directive of safely developing "artificial general intelligence" -- but also one that controlled a for-profit arm that employed all OpenAI's staff and which was backed by outside investors. These investors were entitled to a share of any profits OpenAI's eventually makes (right now the company is believed to be losing billions of dollars annually) but their upside was limited by a profit cap set at the time they invested. This setup has become increasingly fraught over time, due to the gargantuan costs involved in training leading-edge AI models, and the financial returns that investors expect to see for supporting those efforts. The tension came to a head late last year, when OpenAI's safety-first board abruptly ousted Altman, having lost trust in the CEO's candor after a number of incidents, including apparently keeping them out of the loop about ChatGPT's release, and replaced him with Murati as interim CEO. The New York Times later reported that Murati had complained to the board about Altman's management before this episode, though she denied this. Either way, she quickly switched back to Team Altman and was herself briefly replaced as interim CEO by Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear, before Altman made his triumphant return five days after his ouster. Now, nearly 10 months later, OpenAI is reportedly working on a $6.5 billion funding round at a stunning valuation of $150 billion. As Fortune reported a couple weeks ago, Altman told staffers that OpenAI's next phase would come with a restructuring, turning it into a more traditional for-profit company. Reuters reported Wednesday that OpenAI will become a B Corporation -- essentially a socially-minded for-profit company -- with its non-profit continuing to exist, but only as a minority shareholder. There would no longer be a cap on the profits that investors could expect to see. Crucially, it seems Altman himself would for the first time hold equity in OpenAI. He has held back from taking this step until now, saying he's rich enough already, but it could well be that investors want to ensure the company's high-profile leader "has skin in the game" and will see his financial interests aligned with theirs -- a more familiar situation in the world of Big Tech. Investors probably would also prefer to see an OpenAI whose leadership slate is free of executives who have previously been associated with a coup against the boss. With Murati leaving, that's finally going to be the case. The executive who was most deeply enmeshed in the coup, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, bailed in May alongside key researcher Jan Leike, who had been one of the organization's lead AI safety researchers. (Sutskever has since launched his own startup, Safe Intelligence, while Leike went over to OpenAI rival Anthropic.) There has since been a massive exodus of other OpenAI safety specialists, as Fortune reported last month. Even co-founder Greg Brockman, a fierce Altman ally who quit when the CEO was fired and returned alongside him, is out of the picture, for now at least -- he recently went on sabbatical, just as co-founder John Schulman defected to Anthropic. Of the original 11 cofounders of OpenAI, only Altman and AI researcher Wojciech Zaremba are still working full-time at the company. Also on Wednesday, chief research officer Bob McGrew and research VP Barret Zoph announced they were leaving too. Altman said in a note to staff that McGrew, Zoph, and Murati "made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of [Murati's] decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership." OpenAI's leadership is clearly undergoing a massive refresh, with many of its members now being post-coup hires with more traditional Big Tech backgrounds. The company has also grown enormously since Altman's brief ouster. OpenAI is now believed to employ at least 3,500 people now, according to analysis of LinkedIN affiliations, compared to about 750 in November 2023. Many of those people have come to the company from traditional tech companies, where they had roles in areas as diverse as sales and developer support, as opposed to the AI research and AI safety communities from which OpenAI primarily drew its initial staffers. As for Murati, her exit from OpenAI creates tantalizing questions around the future of the most powerful woman in the AI industry, and one of the most prominent in the wider tech sector. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she said in her statement on X. Given her high profile and considerable achievements to date, both on the technical and operational sides, perhaps this overwhelmingly male-dominated space will soon at last include a prominent company that's led by a woman.

Sam Altman says it's relentless and all-consuming to run OpenAI teams after shock CTO departure

A rash of senior staff departures from ChatGPT creator OpenAI has CEO Sam Altman scrambling for an explanation. On Wednesday, chief technology officer Mira Murati said she was stepping down from her role, alongside vice president of research Barrett Zoph and chief research officer, Bob McGrew -- leading to a leadership changeover Altman characterized as amicable and uncoordinated. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company," he told staff in a letter he posted on social media, calling their jobs "relentless" and "all-consuming." The departures come at a historic juncture in OpenAI's nine-year history. Instead of celebrating the one-year anniversary of its November 2022 ChatGPT launch that sparked an AI gold rush, last November was instead the scene of a failed coup against Altman by the non-profit board that controls the company. This led the CEO to admit its hybrid structure was a clumsy compromise to keep the team intact as it shifted focus from pure research to commercializing its intellectual property. Now it appears that time has come to complete OpenAi's metamorphosis, with plans in the works to shed the non-profit shell that still controls it on paper as it seeks to raise fresh equity capital at a reported $150 billion valuation. (A spokesman for OpenAI told Fortune earlier this month the non-profit will continue to exist since it is "core" to its mission, but did not explain what role it would play.) Altman himself is set to reap a windfall gain in the process, potentially being awarded a 7% stake in the new entity, according to Bloomberg. Companies in fast-paced industries are only as good as their human capital, and Altman initially managed to hold on to staff split between researchers still dedicated to its original non-profit mission and those looking to quickly commercialize the technology. "OpenAI is nothing without its people," became the unifying motto of OpenAI at the time, a sentiment Murati herself shared in November 2023. Fellow co-founder John Schulman works at Anthropic as of last month, leaving just three of the original team of eleven still around. One of those, president Greg Brockman, has gone on a sabbatical through the end of this year. "Our fundamental competitiveness depends on being faster than any other AI company," Musk argued in July. "This is the only way to catch up." Grok 3 is currently in training, and should Musk's team at xAI hit his ambitious December release schedule, it could potentially eclipse OpenAI's GPT-4 omni model, its most advanced yet. AI industry critic Gary Marcus has subsequently warned OpenAI investors to rethink whether the company in its current state is worth what they are claiming, with so many top minds leaving. "People are valuing this company at $150 billion dollars? Absolutely insane," he posted on Wednesday. "Investors shouldn't be pouring [in] more money at higher valuations, they should be asking what is going on."

OpenAI's brain drain continues: CTO Mira Murati jumps ship

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More In a shocking development that further destabilizes one of artificial intelligence's most prominent companies, OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati announced her resignation on Wednesday. This unexpected exit marks the latest in a series of high-profile departures from the AI powerhouse, signaling deepening turmoil within an organization that was riding high just months ago. Murati, who joined OpenAI in 2018 and rose to become CTO in 2022, played a pivotal role in developing the company's groundbreaking AI models, including GPT-3 and ChatGPT. Her departure comes on the heels of other key executives leaving the company, including co-founder John Schulman and former president Greg Brockman. In her memo to staff, Murati expressed gratitude for her time at OpenAI, highlighting the company's achievements in advancing AI technology. She wrote, "Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAI o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence -- achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship." OpenAI's brain drain: How the AI giant's talent exodus threatens its dominance However, the timing of Murati's exit raises questions about the internal stability of OpenAI and coincides with significant structural changes within the organization. According to a recent Reuters report, OpenAI is working on a plan to restructure its core business into a for-profit benefit corporation that will no longer be controlled by its non-profit board. This move, if implemented, would fundamentally alter the company's governance structure and potentially its mission focus. The company has been grappling with leadership challenges and strategic uncertainties since a tumultuous boardroom coup in November 2023 that briefly ousted CEO Sam Altman. While Altman was quickly reinstated, the incident exposed deep rifts within the organization's leadership and vision. Now, with the proposed restructuring, Altman stands to receive equity in the for-profit entity for the first time, a development that could significantly increase his influence and stake in the company's future direction. Industry analysts suggest that Murati's departure may be linked to ongoing disagreements over OpenAI's direction, particularly in light of these potential structural changes. The company has faced criticism for allegedly prioritizing commercial interests over its original mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits humanity as a whole. The move towards a for-profit structure could further fuel these concerns. Altman's response to Murati's departure on social media offers additional insight into the situation. His tweet, while expressing gratitude, also hints at a predetermined transition plan, stating, "We'll say more about the transition plans soon." This suggests that Murati's exit may have been anticipated and potentially part of a larger reorganization strategy. Altman's measured response and mention of future announcements indicate he is carefully managing the narrative around these leadership changes. From ChatGPT to chaos: Unraveling OpenAI's fall from grace in the AI arms race OpenAI's struggles come at a critical juncture for the AI industry. Rivals like Google, with its recently released Gemini models, and Meta, with its brand new open-source Llama 3.2 models, are rapidly closing the gap in AI capabilities. Smaller, nimble competitors such as Anthropic and Mistral are also making significant strides, challenging OpenAI's dominance. The company's internal turmoil is set against a backdrop of broader challenges facing the AI sector. Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying globally, with lawmakers and policymakers grappling with the ethical implications and potential risks of advanced AI systems. OpenAI's leadership instability could potentially hamper its ability to navigate these complex regulatory waters effectively. Moreover, the company faces a lawsuit from Elon Musk, one of its co-founders, accusing OpenAI of betraying its original nonprofit mission. This legal battle adds another layer of complexity to the company's already turbulent situation. Silicon Valley's AI shakeup: How OpenAI's turmoil is reshaping the tech landscape The reverberations of this shakeup extend far beyond OpenAI's glass-walled boardrooms. In an era where AI is the new electricity, powering everything from your smartphone's autocorrect to Wall Street's trading algorithms, OpenAI's next move could ripple through the entire tech ecosystem. Competitors are watching with bated breath, wondering if this is their chance to leapfrog ahead in the race to artificial general intelligence. As OpenAI navigates these choppy waters, the tech world is collectively holding its breath. Will this be the company's "Intel moment," cementing its dominance in the AI chip race, or its "Netscape moment," marking the beginning of the end? The answer could shape not just the future of AI, but the very fabric of our increasingly digital society. One thing's for certain: in the high-stakes poker game of Silicon Valley, OpenAI just went all-in. And as the cards fall, we're all about to find out whether they're holding a royal flush or a spectacular bluff. Stay tuned, tech aficionados -- this is one disruption you won't want to miss.

Mira Murati's Sudden Exit Raises Serious Questions About OpenAI's For-Profit Ambition

Observers express concern that Altman-led OpenAI is increasingly favoring commercial interests and overlooking safety concerns. On Wednesday, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced on X that she has decided to leave the company. The sudden resignation comes when OpenAI is reportedly restructuring the core business and moving away from the non-profit board to a for-profit corporation. Along with Murati, two other AI researchers, Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, tendered their resignation to the company. Murati who was with OpenAI for over six years said, "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI ... I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." What came as a surprise is that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn't know about Murati's departure. In response to Murati's exit, Altman wrote on X, "When Mira informed me this morning that she was leaving, I was saddened but of course support her decision." Murati's exit was so unexpected that Altman acknowledged in his note to OpenAI staffers, "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company..." But what explains the flurry of resignations from OpenAI in recent months? Let's look at the timeline of resignations. Ever since the failed coup at OpenAI last year where the non-profit board, led by Ilya Sutskever, tried to oust Sam Altman, the company has seen a series of high-profile departures. First, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever left the company in May 2024 to start his own venture, Safe Superintelligence Inc. Soon after, OpenAI superalignment researcher, Jan Leike, resigned from the company citing safety concerns. Next in August 2024, Greg Brockman, OpenAI President and co-founder, announced that he is going on an extended leave through the end of this year. And John Schulman, one of the founding members, left OpenAI to join the rival AI lab, Anthropic. Now, in September, Mira Murati who was seen as a trusted confidante of CEO Sam Altman, left the company abruptly. With Murati's departure, nearly all of the OpenAI founding members have left the company, leaving only Sam Altman and Wojciech Zaremba in the trenches. As Mira Murati announced her departure, Reuters reported that OpenAI is working to restructure the company so that the non-profit board will no longer have control over the for-profit corporation. The non-profit board will exist, but it will have a minority stake in the company, leaving the governance of OpenAI to profit-driven investors. And with the new structure in place, CEO Sam Altman is likely to receive equity worth $150 billion. As for the board members, OpenAI recently appointed Paul Nakasone, the former NSA chief which raised eyebrows in the tech and privacy communities. The retired Army General was also added to OpenAI's Safety and Security Committee. Given his background in cyber security and intelligence, some critics expressed concern and said that it signals a shift in OpenAI's mission. The governance of OpenAI is the central question here. Everyone, including investors and governments, wants to have control over OpenAI as it's one of the leading AI labs developing powerful technologies that could impact humanity worldwide. The tussle to control OpenAI is emblematic of the power struggle between commercial interests and ethical concerns. With the proposed for-profit structuring and departure of nearly all founding members, the governance and mission of OpenAI are at stake. Will it work for the benefit of humanity or favor commercial interests in the future? Only time will tell.

OpenAI's technology chief Mira Murati to leave

Microsoft-backed OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will leave the artificial intelligence startup, the executive said in a post on X, the latest in a string of executive departures this year. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," Murati wrote in the X post. In a reply to Murati's X post, CEO Sam Altman thanked her for her contributions. "We'll say more about the transition plans soon, but for now, I want to take a moment to just feel thanks," he wrote. The departure comes on the heels of a reported $6.5 billion financing round valuing the company at $150 billion, contingent on the company upending its corporate structure. The company plans to restructure to a for-profit benefit corporation, and will give Altman an equity stake, Reuters reported Wednesday. The funding round has not closed yet and the company is in the process of finalizing it. It was unclear whether Murati's departure could affect the ongoing fundraise. Some fundraising documents a "material adverse change" clause which allows investors to withdraw from a deal if the company encounters anything that could have a significant negative impact. Murati has been part of the ChatGPT maker for 6-1/2 years, and briefly served as CEO in November when the board temporarily ousted then reinstated co-founder Altman in a shock move. According to her LinkedIn profile, Murati joined OpenAI as the "VP of Applied AI and Partnerships" in December 2020 and was promoted to CTO in May 2022. Prior to OpenAI, she worked at virtual and augmented reality startup at Leap Motion and at Tesla. As CTO, Murati frequently appeared alongside Altman as the public face of the ChatGPT maker. When OpenAI launched its GPT-4o model in May, capable of having realistic voice conversation, Murati led the presentation. Murati is the latest in a string of OpenAI executive departures. In August, OpenAI co-founder John Schulman said on X that he had joined rival AI company Anthropic, and another co-founder Greg Brockman also said on X he was taking a sabbatical through the end of the year. A third co-founder, chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, left OpenAI in May.

Open AI CTO Mira Murati quits, becoming the latest in a string of executive departures - SiliconANGLE

Open AI CTO Mira Murati quits, becoming the latest in a string of executive departures OpenAI's high-profile Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who has been one of the central figures in the development of ChatGPT and the image generator model DALL-E, said today she is leaving the artificial intelligence company to do her own exploration. "My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege," Murati (pictured) said in a post on X announcing her decision. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right." Murati's decision to move onto new pastures comes as the AI company reportedly takes significant steps to revamp itself and make it easier to generate revenue and secure funding. In a report from Reuters today, the company revealed it's planning to restructure its core business as a for-profit organization, in a move that could deliver more returns to investors. OpenAI, which was first created as a non-profit research lab before splitting off a for-profit arm, is also said to be engaged in talks with investors over new funding that could see its value grow to $150 billion. Murati is also notably the latest in a string of high-profile executives to leave OpenAI in recent months. In May, the company's co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever announced he was leaving the firm to start a new AI startup that's focused on building safer AI for educational purposes. AI safety leader Jan Leike also left the company in May, while another co-founder, John Schulman said last month he's leaving to join rival AI company Anthropic PBC. Meanwhile, co-founder and President Greg Brockman remains on extended leave. Murati joined OpenAI back in 2018 from the augmented reality startup Ultraleap Inc., then called Leap Motion Inc., having previously worked at Tesla Inc. With the launch of the original ChatGPT model in late 2022, Murati became one of the most prominent figures at the company as it became a household name, sparking an AI arms race that has accelerated to this day. In November, Murati's status was elevated further when she briefly became OpenAI's interim Chief Executive Officer during the ousting of incumbent Sam Altman. Within a few days, she resumed her role as CTO as Altman negotiated his return to the company. During that week-and-a-half long debacle, Murati signed an open letter alongside more than 500 other OpenAI employees, threatening to quit the company if Altman wasn't brought back onboard. Murati has remained in the spotlight ever since, causing controversy in June when she suggested that AI systems will likely replace some creative jobs. "Some creative jobs maybe will go away, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place if the content that comes out of it is not very high quality," she said during The Wall Street Journal's WSJ Tech Live Conference. "I really believe that using it as a tool for education [and] creativity will expand our intelligence and creativity and imagination." As CTO, Murati oversaw a number of advances at the company, including the release in May of its most powerful large language model thus far, GPT-4o, which introduced more human-like, spoken conversational capabilities to ChatGPT. This month, she unveiled the preview of OpenAI o1, also called Strawberry, which is said to have reasoning capabilities that allow it to solve more complex math and science problems. "Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAI o1 mark the beginning of a new era of interaction and intelligence ... We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems," Murati said in the note announcing her departure. According to Murati, the reason she's leaving is to "create time and space to do my own exploration", though she said she will help to ensure a smooth transition to her successor. OpenAI hasn't yet said who will take over as its new CTO. In a post on X, Altman hailed Murati's contributions to the company: "I feel tremendous gratitude towards her for what she has helped us build and accomplish, but I most of all feel personal gratitude towards her for the support and love during all the hard times. I am excited for what she'll do next," he said, adding that the company will reveal more about its transition plan soon. Shortly after Murati announced her departure, Reuters published a report that reveals how OpenAI is working on a plan to restructure its main business into a for-profit corporation. The new business would no longer be controlled by OpenAI's non-profit board of directors, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. OpenAI's non-profit organization would continue to exist, and it would also own a minority stake in the for-profit entity, the sources added. The move is designed to make OpenAI more attractive to investors, and would also have consequences in terms of how it manages AI risks, with a new governance structure, Reuters said. As part of the plan, Altman will reportedly receive equity in the for-profit portion of the company. That equity could be worth as much as $150 billion, the anonymous sources said. In response to the report, OpenAI said through a spokesperson that it remains "focused on building AI that benefits everyone, and we're working with our board to ensure that we're best positioned to succeed in our mission." "The non-profit is core to our mission and will continue to exist," the spokesperson added. The report comes a couple of weeks after Bloomberg reported that OpenAI is holding talks with investors over a possible $6.5 billion funding round that would increase its valuation to more than $150 billion. Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp., Apple Inc. and Thrive Capital are all said to be involved in the discussions. OpenAI is in need of a new cash injection, because it's faced with some staggering operating costs. According to a recent report by The Information, it has already spent more than $7 billion on model training and an additional $1.5 billion on staffing. ChatGPT alone is said to cost around $700,000 per day in computing resources, while GPT-4's training costs are said to have exceeded $100 million.

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Steps Down: 'I Want To Create The Time And Space To Do My Own Exploration...' -- Elon Musk Highlights Talent Exodus

OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati has announced her departure from ChatGPT-parent, following the exit of several high-profile members of the company. This has sparked speculation about the future of the AI startup. What Happened: On Tuesday, Murati shared a memo with the OpenAI team which she later posted on X, formerly Twitter. In the memo, she said, "After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI," adding, "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right." Murati also gave an indication of what she intends to do after leaving OpenAI. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built," she stated. See Also: Tech YouTuber MKBHD Responds After Facing Massive Backlash Over His New $12 A Month Wallpaper App Following the announcement, a user on X shared an old image of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman along with Murati, co-founder and former president Greg Brockman, and former chief scientist at the company, Ilya Sutskever. The image had crosses on all three members apart from Altman, signifying they are no longer part of the ChatGPT-maker. In response to the post, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and left the company in 2018 over some differences, posted a grimacing face emoji. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: Last November, the OpenAI board ousted Altman, citing a lack of candor in his communications. At the time, Murati was appointed interim CEO, a move that led to an open letter from employees threatening to leave. Altman was later reinstated, and Murati returned to her role as CTO. Murati's departure is the latest in a series of high-profile exits from OpenAI. Earlier in May, Sutskever, along with Jan Leike, who led the "superalignment" team, resigned from OpenAI. While Sutskever went on to start his own AI startup named Safe Superintelligence (SSI), Leike decided to join Anthropic, a competitor of ChatGPT-parent. In August, OpenAI president Greg Brockman announced a sabbatical. At the same time, John Schulman, another OpenAI co-founder announced that he will be joining Anthropic. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Elon Musk And Nvidia CEO Share Vision Of AI-Powered Personal Assistants, LinkedIn Under Scrutiny And More: This Week In AI Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Sam Altman Stunned As Top Employees leave OpenAI

OpenAI, the prominent artificial intelligence research organization, is currently facing a significant upheaval as several key employees, including the influential Mira Murati, who was the chief technology officer of OpenAI from 2018, have announced their departures. This wave of resignations has sent shockwaves through the AI community, raising critical questions about OpenAI's internal dynamics, leadership, and future direction. Mira Murati, who stepped in as interim CEO during Sam Altman's brief absence, has unexpectedly announced her resignation from OpenAI. Madati's leadership during this turbulent period was seen as pivotal in maintaining the organization's stability and progress. Her departure leaves a notable gap in OpenAI's leadership structure, sparking concerns about the company's ability to maintain continuity and navigate the challenges ahead. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, finds himself embroiled in controversies that have cast doubts on his leadership approach and strategic decisions. Critics accuse Altman of engaging in a "reckless race for dominance" in the field of artificial intelligence, suggesting that his aggressive strategies may be undermining ethical standards and safety protocols in the pursuit of rapid advancement. Furthermore, Altman's involvement in a major chip fabrication initiative and his ownership of OpenAI's Venture Capital fund have raised eyebrows within the AI community. These engagements have led to debates about potential conflicts of interest and the impact they may have on OpenAI's strategic direction and priorities. OpenAI's internal dynamics are currently under intense scrutiny, with the WilmerHale law firm conducting investigations into various organizational issues. The appointment of new board members with ties to the U.S. government has added another layer of complexity to the situation, raising questions about external influences on the company's decision-making processes. Predictions of further departures and reduced roles for key figures within OpenAI indicate a period of instability and potential reorganization within the company. These internal challenges, coupled with the loss of influential leaders like Mira Murati, have raised concerns about OpenAI's ability to maintain its position at the forefront of AI research and development. Here are a selection of other articles from our extensive library of content you may find of interest on the subject of OpenAI : OpenAI is facing increasing criticism from former employees and influential voices in the AI community. Daniel Kokotajlo, a former employee, has openly criticized OpenAI's direction and leadership, adding to the growing chorus of dissent. The discourse on AI risk and governance has intensified, with prominent figures like Leopold Aschenbrenner and Ivanka Trump contributing to the debate. These external criticisms highlight broader concerns about the ethical and governance challenges in AI development. OpenAI's ability to address these concerns and maintain trust within the AI community will be crucial in shaping its future trajectory and impact on the field. OpenAI's ongoing projects in chip fabrication and AI development are seen as crucial for its future success and competitiveness. However, the organization faces increased scrutiny from the U.S. government, particularly regarding foreign investments in AI technology. This scrutiny underscores the geopolitical implications of AI development and the necessity for robust governance frameworks to ensure responsible and ethical advancement. Public and community opinions on Sam Altman's leadership will also play a significant role in shaping OpenAI's future path. With a notable portion of the community expressing distrust and concerns about the impact of high-profile departures on the organization's stability and direction, OpenAI will need to navigate these challenges carefully to maintain its position as a leader in AI research and development. The departure of key figures like Mira Murati, coupled with internal investigations, external criticisms, and geopolitical considerations, presents significant challenges for OpenAI. The organization's ability to address these issues, maintain trust within the AI community, and navigate the complex landscape of AI development will be critical in shaping its future and impact on the field of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI brain drain: What to make of CTO Mira Murati's sudden exit

OpenAI CTO Murati departs as company is set to abandon its nonprofit roots It was just last year that Fast Company featured OpenAI CTO Mira Murati on the cover of its magazine. Inside was a revealing exposé, where Murati talked about her part in building game-changing products like ChatGPT. Later that year Murati would briefly become CEO of OpenAI, when Sam Altman was forced out of the role. (He quickly reassumed the title.) Now Murati is gone, the latest in a string of executive departures at the hottest and best-funded AI startup in the world. Murati announced her departure on Thursday with a thankful and diplomatic letter to her coworkers, but left no hint as to her reasons for leaving. She did, however, mention that her exit comes just after the company passed an important milestone: "Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAl o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence -- achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship," she wrote. Nobody knows what Murati will do next, but she certainly has the name recognition and résumé to attract large sums of money from venture capitalists, should she have the desire to start something new.

OpenAI's CTO Mira Murati quits as executive exodus continues

Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer of OpenAI and an important contributor to the AI upsurge has resigned after more than six years at the company. With a groundbreaking portfolio that includes ChatGPT and DALL-E, Murati announced her choice to resign to start her new ventures. With her departure, OpenAI is at a key point as the business deals with a string of executive resignations and works towards raising $6.5 billion in fresh capital. The recent turmoil at OpenAI is what led to Murati's departure. Last year, she temporarily accepted the CEO position after the company's co-founder Sam Altman briefly left in a boardroom takeover. As part of her assignment, she helped the company navigate through some of its most difficult periods, including overseeing relationships with important investors, such as Microsoft, which has poured $13 billion into OpenAI. Despite the unrest, Murati kept directing the evolution of the organization's AI technologies, which include the recently presented o1 reasoning model and speech-to-speech chat features. Her resignation is another addition to a growing roster of high-profile separations from OpenAI, which includes co-founder Ilya Sutskever and essential safety team representatives. Within days of the unexpected announcement of her stepping down, the company's Vice President of Research, Barret Zoph, and the Chief Research Officer, Bob McGrew, resigned on the same day. In her farewell message, Murati thanked Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman for their support; Brockman is currently away on a leave of absence. She highlighted the recent advancements in AI as "the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence" and assured her commitment to a smooth transition during this leadership change. Murati shared the following memo with OpenAI staff, which she also posted online: "Hi all, I have something to share with you. After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege. While I'll express my gratitude to many individuals in the coming days, I want to start by thanking Sam and Greg for their trust in me to lead the technical organization and for their support throughout the years. There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right. Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAI o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence -- achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship. We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems. We brought safety research from the theoretical realm into practical applications, creating models that are more robust, aligned, and steerable than ever before. Our work has made cutting-edge AI research intuitive and accessible, developing technology that adapts and evolves based on everyone's input. This success is a testament to our outstanding teamwork, and it is because of your brilliance, your dedication, and your commitment that OpenAI stands at the pinnacle of AI innovation. I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of scientific understanding in our quest to improve human well-being. While I may no longer be in the trenches with you, I will still be rooting for you all. With deep gratitude for the friendships forged, the triumphs achieved, and most importantly, the challenges overcome together. Mira" In its critical fundraising phase to reach a staggering $150 billion value, OpenAI hasn't named Murati's replacement as Chief Technology Officer. Altman acknowledged Murati's profound impact on the company, stating, "It's hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally." As the company gears up for its annual DevDay in San Francisco next week, the leadership shifts cast a gloom over what should be a celebration for the AI giant. The absence of key players has caused questions about OpenAI's future trajectory and persistent rapid innovation.

OpenAI keeps losing executives. Here's everyone who left so far this year

OpenAI may be winning the current artificial intelligence boom -- but it's losing top-level executives. Mira Murati, OpenAI's chief technology officer, announced on Wednesday that she had "made the difficult decision" to leave the AI startup after six-and-a-half years. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes," Murati said, "yet this moment feels right." After OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman was briefly ousted in November, Murati served as interim leader of the company. Along with Murati, OpenAI chief research officer Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barret Zoph also announced their resignations from the company. The departures come four months after OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever, resigned from the company. Sutskever, who co-led the startup's "superalignment" team focused on AI's existential dangers, was joined by his co-lead, Jan Leike, who also resigned in May. "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding," Altman wrote on X in response to the departures. "I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company, and I think the reasons Mira explained to me (there is never a good time, anything not abrupt would have leaked, and she wanted to do this while OpenAI was in an upswing) make sense." Here's a list of OpenAI executives who have left the company so far this year.

'We Are Not a Normal Company': OpenAI's Latest Drama

Sam Altman's latest challenge OpenAI has had more than its share of drama over the past year, even as it extends its lead in artificial intelligence. But as ChatGPT's parent company takes steps to become more palatable to outside investors, it has again lost senior leaders, including its prominent chief technology officer. It's a reminder that while OpenAI is one of the most consequential highfliers in tech, it's -- as Sam Altman, its C.E.O., put it -- "not a normal company." OpenAI is in the midst of a significant transition. As part of its efforts to raise one of the biggest fund-raising rounds in recent memory, pushing up its valuation to perhaps $150 billion, the company is moving to become a for-profit business, according to The Times and others. That, along with removing the caps on returns that external investors can collect, would help resolve questions about how OpenAI is run. The company has already taken some steps to allay such concerns by forming a board that looks more like the typical corporation's, after a previous set of directors briefly ousted Altman last year. Speaking of Altman, he is also in talks to get an equity stake in OpenAI, after having previously said he didn't need one, according to Reuters. Bloomberg reports that it could be for as much as 7 percent of the company, which would be worth about $10.5 billion if the start-up were to secure the valuation it is seeking. But that transition will come amid another management reshuffle. Even OpenAI employees were reportedly surprised by Wednesday's announcement that Mira Murati, the company's star C.T.O., planned to leave after a more than six-year stint. (Two other executives, including the chief research officer, are also departing.)

Mira Murati's departure signals a new chapter for OpenAI

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati has resigned from the company after more than six and a half years in a post in which she led the company's technical direction. Two other major resignations include Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and, VP of Post-Training Barret Zoph and this has lead to discussions on the mystery of the direction of the burgeoning artificial intelligence startup. Murati has been in the forefront in the leading of OpenAI into its current success. Her work was a major part in shaping and deploying the innovative systems like ChatGPT and DALL-E, which is a text-to-image generator AI developed by OpenAI. Murati resigns because she wants to and basically stated the same in her memo that she needs space and time to chart her own course. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built," she stated in her announcement on X. Murati's exit is not the first of its kind happening within the organization. McGrew and Zoph's recent resignation letters bring out the possibility that there is a change of guard in OpenAI. CEO Sam Altman appreciated the impact of these changes and sought to calm employees by explaining that such outcomes were friendly and individual. "Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding," Altman stated. Altman focused on continuity, especially as OpenAI is advancing on the technology and the business plane equally. "The timing of the decision that Mira has made was such that it is now possible to do all of this at once so that we can all work towards that Mark IX handover of leadership to the next generation," he said. Currently, Mark Chen will take over the research organization from McGrew, while Josh Achiam, who will assume the position of head of mission alignment, will focus on mission alignment across open AI departments. Murati's full memo: Hi all, I have something to share with you. After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAl. My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAl team have been an extraordinary privilege. While I'll express my gratitude to many individuals in the coming days, I want to start by thanking Sam and Greg for their trust in me to lead the technical organization and for their support throughout the years. There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right. Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAl o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence - achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship. We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how Al systems learn and reason through complex problems. We brought safety research from the theoretical realm into practical applications, creating models that are more robust, aligned, and steerable than ever before. Our work has made cutting-edge Al research intuitive and accessible, developing technology that adapts and evolves based on everyone's input. This success is a testament to our outstanding teamwork, and it is because of your brilliance, your dedication, and your commitment that OpenAl stands at the pinnacle of Al innovation. I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of scientific understanding in our quest to improve human well-being. While I may no longer be in the trenches with you, I will still be rooting for you all. With deep gratitude for the friendships forged, the triumphs achieved, and most importantly, the challenges overcome together. Mira Altman's full memo: Hi All- Mira has been instrumental to OpenAI's progress and growth the last 6.5 years; she has been a hugely significant factor in our development from an unknown research lab to an important company. When Mira informed me this morning that she was leaving, I was saddened but of course support her decision. For the past year, she has been building out a strong bench of leaders that will continue our progress. I also want to share that Bob and Barret have decided to depart OpenAI. Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of Mira's decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership. I am extremely grateful to all of them for their contributions. Being a leader at OpenAI is all-consuming. On one hand it's a privilege to build AGI and be the fastest-growing company that gets to put our advanced research in the hands of hundreds of millions of people. On the other hand it's relentless to lead a team through it -- and they have gone above and beyond the call of duty for the company. Mark is going to be our new SVP of Research and will now lead the research org in partnership with Jakub as Chief Scientist. This has been our long-term succession plan for Bob someday; although it's happening sooner than we thought, I couldn't be more excited that Mark is stepping into the role. Mark obviously has deep technical expertise, but he has also learned how to be a leader and manager in a very impressive way over the past few years. Josh Achiam is going to take on a new role as Head of Mission Alignment, working across the company to ensure that we get all pieces (and culture) right to be in a place to succeed at the mission. Kevin and Srinivas will continue to lead the Applied team. Matt Knight will be our Chief Information Security Officer having already served in this capacity for a long time. This has been our plan for quite some time. Mark, Jakub, Kevin, Srinivas, Matt, and Josh will report to me. I have over the past year or so spent most of my time on the non-technical parts of our organization; I am now looking forward to spending most of my time on the technical and product parts of the company. Tonight, we're going to gather at 575 starting at 5:30 pm. Mira, Bob, Barret, and Mark will be there. This will be about showing our appreciation and reflecting on all we've done together. Then tomorrow, we will all have an all-hands and can answer any questions then. A calendar invite will come soon. Leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding. I obviously won't pretend it's natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company, and I think the reasons Mira explained to me (there is never a good time, anything not abrupt would have leaked, and she wanted to do this while OpenAI was in an upswing) make sense. We can both talk about this more tomorrow during all-hands. Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. Sam Having started its journey just a few years ago, OpenAI has faced serious internal dynamics during its expansion. Less than a year ago the boardroom appear to have ousted Altman, although he was later re-instated after a short time. During that brief period though Murati had worked as acting CEO making her even more important figure in OpenAI. This spate occurs at a time when OpenAI is gearing up for its most important event on the corporate calendar, the annual Dev Day conference in San Francisco. However, such internal changes do not mean the downfall of OpenAI; on the contrary, the firm continues to rise. Last year, the company raised billions of dollars in funds and is said to be worth over $150 billion. Nonetheless, this has resulted from the rapid expansion of the company. This week, we've seen OpenAI struggling to define what it wants to do regarding its ethical and moral obligations, especially given that AI-based solutions like ChatGPT have caused disruption of new industries, concerns over job losses, privacy issues, and the problem of safety in the development of superintelligent AI. In recent months, OpenAI has also been looking for possible strategies to transform into a for-profit company while sustaining a portion of nonprofit organizations. This shift is expected to give investors more direct possibilities and allow the employees to achieve liquidity. According to media, Thrive Capital is currently rumored to be leading the next funding round, where other tech goliaths, including Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple, are said to be eyeing participation as well. Murati herself has been with OpenAI since 2018, which was during the time of continuous progress and increased attention. The way she led to the release of OpenAI's main products altered the approach of AI systems to reasoning and interaction. As she gets out of the University, Murati is going out with a bang encouraging advancement in the research of AI. "We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how AI systems learn and reason through complex problems," she stated in her memo. While her exit marks the end of an era for OpenAI's technical leadership, Murati's influence on the company's trajectory will be long-lasting. OpenAI's position as a leader in the AI space remains unchallenged, even as its internal dynamics continue to evolve. During the change of leadership in OpenAI, the company has a number of advantageous opportunities and may encounter some challenges along the way. The constant need to soldier between ethical concerns and invention will remain a challenge for its new leadership team. Furthermore, as the company improves its structure and looks for new, more profitable opportunities for development, it should not let the speed of growth become detrimental to safety and ethics. Still, with its agenda of advancing artificial intelligence to new levels of progress, OpenAI gets the attention of the global technoscape. While Murati resigns and a new generation of leaders are coming in the management of Elemia, once again the company is on a crossroads to control the future of AI. OpenAI has faced a series of leadership crises and high-profile departures, starting with Sam Altman's brief ousting in November 2023, when Mira Murati stepped in as interim CEO. Altman was temporarily removed by the board, with transparency issues cited as the reason, before being reinstated just days later. Following this, several key figures, including co-founder John Schulman and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, left OpenAI for rival company Anthropic, adding to a period of internal turmoil. These events unfolded against the backdrop of OpenAI's rapid growth, securing billions in funding while simultaneously facing scrutiny over AI safety concerns and ethical leadership.

OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati leaving company

San Francisco (AFP) - OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati on Wednesday said she is leaving the company behind ChatGPT, adding to a growing list of high-level departures. Murati called her more than six years at the San Francisco-based company "an extraordinary privilege" and described her decision to leave as difficult in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "There's never an ideal time to walk away from a place one cherishes, but the moment feels right," Murati said in the post. "I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." OpenAI chief Sam Altman replied to Murati's post with his thanks for what Murati has helped the company build, and promised details on a transition plan soon. Murati is the latest influential member of the OpenAI team to step away from their position. Co-founder Greg Brockman is on an extended leave of absence and fellow OpenAI founder John Schulman left for AI sector rival Anthropic, according to a report in The Information. A product team leader who OpenAI had lured over from Meta also left, the report said. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever exited OpenAI early this year in the wake of a boardroom battle that saw Altman temporarily ousted from the company. OpenAI earlier this month released a new series of artificial intelligence models designed to spend more time thinking -- in hopes that generative AI chatbots provide more accurate and beneficial responses. The new model, nicknamed Strawberry, is designed to tackle complex tasks and solve more challenging problems in science, coding and mathematics -- something that earlier models have been criticized for failing to provide consistently. Unlike their predecessors, these models have been trained to refine their thinking processes, try different methods and recognize mistakes before they deploy a final answer. OpenAI's push to improve "thinking" in its model is a response to the persistent problem of "hallucinations" in AI chatbots. This refers to their tendency to generate persuasive but incorrect content that has somewhat cooled the excitement over ChatGPT-style AI features among business customers. The new release came as OpenAI was raising funds that could see it valued around $150 billion, which would make it one of the world's most valuable private companies, according to US media.

Top executives leave OpenAI amid for-profit push

Top U.S. artificial intelligence startup OpenAI took a hit Thursday after three of its top executives exited the company. The departures come as CEO Sam Altman is reportedly preparing to turn OpenAI into a traditional for-profit company. Connie Guglielmo, senior vice president focused on AI edit strategy for CNET, joins CBS News to examine the future of the startup.

Mira Murati, the mind behind OpenAI's future, is the latest to leave as leadership exodus worsens

Mira Murati, OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer, has become the latest high-profile executive to depart from the AI firm. With a six-year tenure marked by key contributions to OpenAI's ChatGPT and other innovations, Murati announced her exit to pursue personal exploration. Her departure adds to a string of leadership exits from the company, including co-founders Ilya Sutskever and John Schulman. CEO Sam Altman expressed gratitude for her pivotal role in shaping OpenAI's mission and future.Mira Murati, OpenAI's Chief Technology Officer and a key figure behind the company's most significant AI developments, has announced her departure after more than six years. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Murati revealed her decision to step down, explaining her desire to "create the time and space to do [her] own exploration." Joining OpenAI in 2018, Murati quickly became a central figure in the company, playing a crucial role in the development of ChatGPT and DALL-E. These products propelled OpenAI to the forefront of the AI industry, making Murati one of its most recognizable leaders. Her contributions earned her the position of CTO in May 2022, from which she frequently represented the company at key events. Born on December 16, 1988, in Vlorë, Albania, Murati obtained her Master's degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before joining OpenAI, she worked at Tesla, where she managed the Model X program and contributed to the development of early Autopilot releases, sparking her interest in AI. Later, she held the role of Vice President of Product and Engineering at Leap Motion, working on augmented reality technology. Murati's six-year journey at OpenAI was marked by the launch of major AI technologies, particularly ChatGPT, which significantly increased the company's visibility and influence. As CTO, she led product development, including OpenAI's GPT-4 model, which introduced realistic voice conversations and other advanced features. Her leadership was also crucial during internal company challenges. In 2023, amid a temporary leadership crisis that saw CEO Sam Altman removed from his position, Murati stepped in as interim CEO. Along with over 500 employees, she supported Altman's return, showcasing her strong position within the company during a turbulent time. Murati's departure comes at a pivotal moment for OpenAI, as the company prepares for its annual Dev Day conference in San Francisco, an event known for unveiling updates on AI developer tools. Last year's boardroom shake-up occurred shortly after the inaugural Dev Day, during which Murati also played a significant role. Also Read: OpenAI to remove non-profit control and give Sam Altman equity Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, responded to Murati's departure with high praise for her contributions to the company. "It's hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally," Altman shared in his X post. He further expressed gratitude for her leadership during difficult times and highlighted her role in building a strong leadership team within the company. Altman assured that the company's leadership transition plans would be shared soon, as OpenAI continues to maintain its trajectory of growth and innovation. Murati's departure is part of a broader leadership reshuffling at OpenAI. Earlier in 2023, co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever left to start a venture focused on AI safety. Another co-founder, John Schulman, joined rival AI company Anthropic in August, and president Greg Brockman is currently on sabbatical through the end of the year. OpenAI is reportedly in discussions about a restructuring that could lead to increased investor returns, with the company's valuation possibly reaching $150 billion. The impact of the leadership changes on these plans remains uncertain, as some fundraising documents include clauses allowing investors to withdraw if key personnel leave. Also Read: OpenAI's technology chief Mira Murati to leave While Murati's future plans have not been fully disclosed, she emphasized her intention to step away to pursue personal exploration and new opportunities. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she wrote in her X post. Murati remains at OpenAI while negotiating her exit, and CEO Sam Altman has reassured stakeholders about the continuity of the company's leadership. Recent internal promotions, such as Matt Knight to Chief Information Security Officer and Josh Achiam to Head of Mission Alignment, suggest that OpenAI is actively preparing for its next phase. As OpenAI moves forward, Mira Murati's departure marks the end of an era for one of the company's most influential figures, but her legacy in AI innovation and leadership will continue to shape the company's future.

OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati to Leave Company | PYMNTS.com

"I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," Murati said in a Wednesday post on X. "For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built." Murati served as interim CEO of OpenAI for a time in November 2023 when OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman was briefly ousted from the company by its board. When announcing that move, the company said: "[Murati] brings a unique skill set, understanding of the company's values, operations and business, and already leads the company's research, product and safety functions." Three other executives have left the artificial intelligence (AI) firm in recent months. John Schulman, one of OpenAI's co-founders, said in August that he was departing the company to join one of its competitors, Anthropic. "This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment, and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work," Schulman said at the time. "I've decided to pursue this goal at Anthropic, where I believe I can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I'm most interested in." In May, Ilya Sutskever, who was OpenAI's lead scientist and co-founder and who took part in the unsuccessful effort to remove Altman in 2023, announced his resignation from the firm. "After almost a decade, I have made the decision to leave OpenAI," Sutskever said at the time. "The company's trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous, and I'm confident that OpenAI will build AGI [artificial general intelligence] that is both safe and beneficial under the leadership of [Altman, President Greg Brockman and Murati]." Jan Leike, who co-led OpenAI's superalignment team, which focused on "scientific and technical breakthroughs to steer and control AI systems much smarter than us," per the company, also left OpenAI in May and joined Anthropic.

"I Have Made the Difficult Decision to Leave OpenAI," says Mira Murati

Murati is "stepping away to create the time and space to do [her] own exploration." OpenAI Mafia just got bigger. The company's chief Mira Murati today announced her departure from OpenAI after over six years to explore new avenues. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she added. "I shared the following note with the OpenAI team today," said Murati, in a post on X, "I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI," showing her gratitude to Sam Altman and Greg Brockman for achieving amazing strides together in AI. The note also touched upon some of the milestones achieved under her leadership, signifying major advancements in AI that have transformed user interactions and machine intelligence. "Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAI o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence," she added. Further, she also highlighted the efforts in making AI more reliable and controllable. "Our work has made cutting-edge AI research more robust, aligned, and steerable than ever before," said Murati. What's next? Given her passion for AI-driven societal transformation, ethical AI deployment, human-computer interaction, and solving global challenges -- particularly in sustainability -- Murati is most likely to pursue ventures that align with these areas in the future. OpenAI is undergoing significant leadership changes with the recent departures of three key figures: co-founders John Schulman and Greg Brockman, and product manager Peter Deng. OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman has taken an extended leave of absence, alongside John Schulman, who has left to join Anthropic, and Peter Deng, highlighting ongoing leadership changes within the company. "I'm taking a sabbatical through the end of year. First time to relax since co-founding OpenAI 9 years ago," said Brockman, highlighting that the mission is far from complete; they still have a safe AGI to build. Meanwhile, Schulman announced his intentions of joining Anthropic, stating, "This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work." Further, he clarified, saying "To be clear, I'm not leaving due to lack of support for alignment research at OpenAI. My decision is a personal one, based on how I want to focus my efforts in the next phase of my career." It looks like Schulman left the company while remaining in their good books. Sam Altman thanked Schulman for his contributions to OpenAI, calling him "a brilliant researcher, a deep thinker about product and society, and mostly, you are a great friend to all of us," reminiscing about their first meeting in 2015, where Schulman laid out much of OpenAI's initial strategy in just 15 minutes. However, the reason for Deng leaving the company remains unknown. It is most likely that he's planning to start his own AI venture, given his passion and experience in building products like ChatGPT. This development follows the departure of former OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, who left to start his own AI company, Eureka Labs. Eureka Labs is an AI+Education company focused on creating an AI-native learning environment. The goal of Eureka Labs is to revolutionise education by integrating generative AI with traditional teaching methods. Previously, Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist at OpenAI, also announced his resignation and launched a new company called Safe SuperIntelligence, which raised $1 billion in funding from NFDG, a16z, Sequoia, DST Global, and SV Angel, led by Nat Friedman and SSI chief Daniel Gross-within a short span of three months. Along with Sutsekver, Jan Leike, OpenAI's head of alignment, also resigned and joined Anthropic. Leike announced he would continue working on the "super alignment mission", focusing on scalable oversight, weak-to-strong generalisation, and automated alignment research. The OpenAI mafia is just getting bigger and bigger with each passing day. Nearly 75 employees have left OpenAI and founded around 30 AI startups.

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati resigns

OpenAI's chief technology officer Mira Murati announced Wednesday she has resigned, marking the latest departure from a top executive at the artificial intelligence company. Murati, in a statement posted to X, said "this moment feels right" to step away from OpenAI after six-and-half-years with the company and touted the ChatGPT maker's recent advancements in the industry. "I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built," she wrote in a statement to fellow staff. "I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team." She thanked Altman and co-founder and President Greg Brockman, who is on a leave of absence through the end of the year. Her departure follows resignations from OpenAI's co-founder Ilya Sutskever and machine learning researcher Jan Leike, who both left the company in May, along with co-founder John Schulman, who resigned last month. Murati was a key figure during the saga of OpenCEO Sam Altman's brief ouster last November. In the days following Altman's ouster, Murati appeared to show support for him online while being named interim CEO in the meantime. This only lasted a few days, however, before Altman and Brockman were rehired by OpenAI. She was reportedly a large player in negotiations with OpenAI's board to rehire the two tech leaders, according to Bloomberg. Murati joined OpenAI in 2018 as its vice president of AI and partnerships before being promoted to senior vice president of research, product, and partnerships in 2020 and CTO in 2022, according to her LinkedIn page. She previously worked at Tesla and computer peripheral startup Leap Motion. Murati has repeatedly urged caution about AI and warned last year the advancing technology can become "extremely addictive" without proper design.

OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati leaving company - VnExpress International

Murati called her more than six years at the San Francisco-based company "an extraordinary privilege" and described her decision to leave as difficult in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "There's never an ideal time to walk away from a place one cherishes, but the moment feels right," Murati said in the post. "I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." OpenAI chief Sam Altman replied to Murati's post with his thanks for what Murati has helped the company build, and promised details on a transition plan soon. Murati is the latest influential member of the OpenAI team to step away from their position. Co-founder Greg Brockman is on an extended leave of absence and fellow OpenAI founder John Schulman left for AI sector rival Anthropic, according to a report in The Information. A product team leader who OpenAI had lured over from Meta also left, the report said. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever exited OpenAI early this year in the wake of a boardroom battle that saw Altman temporarily ousted from the company. OpenAI earlier this month released a new series of artificial intelligence models designed to spend more time thinking -- in hopes that generative AI chatbots provide more accurate and beneficial responses. The new model, nicknamed Strawberry, is designed to tackle complex tasks and solve more challenging problems in science, coding and mathematics - something that earlier models have been criticized for failing to provide consistently. Unlike their predecessors, these models have been trained to refine their thinking processes, try different methods and recognize mistakes before they deploy a final answer. OpenAI's push to improve "thinking" in its model is a response to the persistent problem of "hallucinations" in AI chatbots. This refers to their tendency to generate persuasive but incorrect content that has somewhat cooled the excitement over ChatGPT-style AI features among business customers. The new release came as OpenAI was raising funds that could see it valued around $150 billion, which would make it one of the world's most valuable private companies, according to U.S. media.