John Schulman Leaves OpenAI for Anthropic; Greg Brockman Takes Extended Leave
John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, has departed the company to join rival AI startup Anthropic. This comes alongside news that OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman is taking an extended leave through the end of the year to “relax and recharge” after nine years at the company.
Brockman confirmed his sabbatical in a tweet on August 6, 2024:
“I’m taking a sabbatical through the end of the 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) link
Additionally, Peter Deng, a product manager who joined OpenAI last year, has also exited the company. This news was initially reported by The Information link.
A spokesperson for OpenAI expressed gratitude for Schulman’s contributions, stating, “We’re grateful for John’s contributions as a founding team member at OpenAI and his dedicated efforts in advancing alignment research. His passion and hard work have established a strong foundation that will inspire and support future innovations at OpenAI and the broader field.”
Schulman announced his decision on X, explaining that he wanted to deepen his focus on AI alignment and engage in more hands-on technical work. “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,” Schulman said. “I am confident that OpenAI and the teams I was part of will continue to thrive without me.” link
Schulman’s journey with OpenAI began after completing his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley. He played a pivotal role in developing the AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT by leading OpenAI’s reinforcement training organization.
Following the departure of AI safety researcher Jan Leike, who also joined Anthropic, Schulman took charge of OpenAI’s alignment science efforts, also known as the “post-training” team. He was a member of OpenAI’s recently formed safety committee, though it remains unclear who will replace him in that role.
Despite controversies surrounding OpenAI’s approach to AI safety research, Schulman emphasized that his departure was not due to a lack of support from the company. “Company leaders have been very committed to investment in [alignment research],” Schulman said. “My decision is a personal one, based on how I want to focus my efforts in the next phase of my career.”
With Schulman’s exit, only three of OpenAI’s 11 original founders remain: CEO Sam Altman, Brockman, and Wojciech Zaremba, head of language and code generation.
Altman expressed his appreciation for Schulman on X, writing, “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.” link
Update: This story was originally published at 5:38 p.m. and was updated to reflect OpenAI’s confirmation of Brockman’s and Deng’s departures.
