OpenAI just lost 3 key leaders
The leave of absence and two exits follow a string of top-level departures at the ChatGPT maker.
Credit line: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/ Getty Images; Isabel Fernandez-Pujol/ BI
- Two leaders at OpenAI have left the company, and president Greg Brockman is taking a leave of absence, The Information reported.
- John Schulman joined rival AI firm Anthropic.
- These departures follow a series of top-level exits at the ChatGPT maker.
Three leaders at OpenAI have just left the company, according to a report by The Information, which cited a person familiar with the matter.
OpenAI president Greg Brockman has taken an extended leave of absence, while the company's vice president of consumer product Peter Deng has left the company, per the outlet. Another cofounder, John Schulman, has left OpenAI to join rival AI firm Anthropic.
Brockman said in a statement on X that he's taking a sabbatical through year-end.
"First time to relax since co-founding OpenAI 9 years ago. The mission is far from complete; we still have a safe AGI to build," he wrote.
Schulman also confirmed his departure.
"I've made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. 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 in statement on X. "I've decided to pursue this goal at Anthropic."
On X, OpenAI CEO and serial entrepreneur Sam Altman responded to Schulman's departure.
"Thank you for everything you've done for OpenAI," he wrote. "We will miss you tremendously and make you proud of this place."
OpenAI, Anthropic, Brockman, Deng, and Schulman did not immediately respond to requests for comment, sent outside standard business hours.
A spokesperson for OpenAI told TechCrunch that Schulman's work "established a strong foundation" for OpenAI and the industry.
"We're grateful for John's contributions as a founding team member at OpenAI and his dedicated efforts in advancing alignment research," the spokesperson said.
The leave of absence and two exits follow a string of top-level departures at the ChatGPT maker this year. TechCrunch reported that of OpenAI's 11 founders, only three are still with the company.
Jan Leike, who co-led OpenAI's superalignment group — a team that focuses on making its AI systems align with human interests — left the company for Anthropic in May.
Leike announced his departure hours after Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI cofounder, chief scientist, and the other superalignment leader, said he was leaving.
Business Insider reported in May that two employees who worked on safety and governance had resigned in recent months. Daniel Kokotajlo left last month and William Saunders departed OpenAI in February.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.