OpenAI Co-Founder Schulman Departs For Anthropic; President Brockman Takes Sabbatical Leave
Schulman directed the reinforcement training team that refined generative AI models to adhere to human instructions, a key component of ChatGPT's evolution.
John Schulman, co-founder of OpenAI, has departed to join the competing AI startup, Anthropic. Concurrently, OpenAI's President, Greg Brockman, is set to take an extended leave through the end of the year. In a related development, Peter Deng, who joined OpenAI as a product manager last year, has also left the company. Schulman announced his decision late Monday on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
I shared the following note with my OpenAI colleagues today:
— John Schulman (@johnschulman2) August 6, 2024
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. I've decided…
Schulman directed the reinforcement training team that refined generative AI models to adhere to human instructions, a key component of ChatGPT's evolution. After AI safety researcher Jan Leike left, Schulman took charge of OpenAI's alignment science initiatives and joined its safety committee. Who will assume these roles after his departure has not been determined.
Despite ongoing controversies surrounding OpenAI's approach to AI safety research, Schulman clarified that his decision was personal and not due to a lack of support from the company. "Company leaders have been very committed to investment in alignment research," he stated. "My decision is a personal one, based on how I want to focus my efforts on the next phase of my career."
Alongside Schulman's exit, OpenAI's President and co-founder, Greg Brockman, will be on sabbatical until year's end. In a recent post on X, Brockman announced his need for an extended break to "relax and recharge."
I’m taking a sabbatical through end of year. 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.
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 6, 2024
Sam Altman expressed his gratitude towards Schulman in a post on social media: “Thank you for everything you’ve done for OpenAI! You are a brilliant researcher, a deep thinker about product and society, and mostly, you are a great friend to all of us. We will miss you tremendously and make you proud of this place.”
Aleksander Madry, the company's AI safety leader, was reassigned to another role in July. Earlier this year, other key figures left the organization, including chief scientist Ilya Sutskever in May and founding member Andrej Karpathy, who departed in February and has since launched an AI-integrated education platform.
These leadership changes come at a time of heightened scrutiny and competition within the AI industry. OpenAI continues to be a major player in the AI space, and these transitions may impact its strategic direction and focus on the coming months.
