In under nine years since its inception, OpenAI has experienced a significant turnover, with 8 of its 11 co-founders no longer with the organization, some having joined rival companies.
On August 6th, Greg Brockman, President of OpenAI and one of its original co-founders, announced on X that he would be taking an extended leave until the end of the year. That same day, another pivotal co-founder, John Schuman, declared his departure, opting to join Anthropic, a major competitor of OpenAI. Meanwhile, Peter Deng, who had been overseeing product development and had prior experience at Meta, Uber, and Airtable, also exited the company after a year of service.
According to TechCrunch, only three of the original co-founders remain at OpenAI. The continuous departure of key personnel highlights a leadership crisis within this globally renowned AI startup.
In his resignation announcement on X, John Schuman, the principal architect behind ChatGPT, stated, «Leaving OpenAI was a difficult decision. I want to delve deeper into AI and embark on a new chapter in my career at Anthropic, where new perspectives, research opportunities, and specialized teammates await on topics I am deeply passionate about.» Schuman expressed pride in his accomplishments at OpenAI and pledged ongoing support for his former colleagues.
Back in May, Jan Leike, a senior leader of OpenAI’s Superalignment project, succinctly announced his resignation on X: «I resign.» He subsequently joined Anthropic as well.
Leike’s resignation came just hours after Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder who had previously attempted to oust CEO Sam Altman, left OpenAI. Prior to this, other co-founders like Daniel Kokotajlo and William Saunders had also departed.
According to Business Insider, after last year’s swift upheaval, Sam Altman quickly resumed his role as the CEO of OpenAI. However, since then, the upper echelons of the company have struggled to regain stability.
Many of those who have left believe that OpenAI has strayed from its original mission, prioritizing quick-profit products over the responsible development of AI.
Earlier this week, Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders, filed another lawsuit against Sam Altman and the company. Musk alleges that Altman prioritizes commercial interests over the public good. He claims that Altman and Brockman lured him into creating the company with promises that it would pursue a safer and more open path compared to profit-driven tech giants. After joining and investing millions of dollars, Musk felt betrayed as Altman and others, along with Microsoft, formed a profit-oriented subsidiary network under OpenAI.
