OpenAI co-founder Schulman leaves for Anthropic, Brockman takes extended leave
John Schulman leaves OpenAI for Anthropic, while Greg Brockman and Peter Deng also depart. Schulman focuses on alignment research at Anthropic.
John Schulman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, has departed from the company to join Anthropic, a rival AI startup. Alongside Schulman's departure, OpenAI president Greg Brockman is taking an extended leave after his nine-year tenure to relax and recharge, while Peter Deng, a product manager who joined OpenAI last year, has also exited the company earlier this year.
OpenAI confirmed these departures and released a statement expressing gratitude for Schulman's contributions. Schulman stated his decision to move to Anthropic was motivated by a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment and engage in more hands-on technical work. He mentioned that he believes he can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged in the topics he is most interested in.
Schulman had a pivotal role at OpenAI, particularly in creating the AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT, and leading the reinforcement training organization. Despite controversies surrounding OpenAI's stance on AI safety research, Schulman clarified that his departure was a personal decision, not due to a lack of support from the company. With Schulman's exit, only three of OpenAI's original eleven founders remain: CEO Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Wojciech Zaremba.