John Schulman Leaves OpenAI for Anthropic and Greg Brockman Takes Extended Leave
John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, has left the company to join the rival AI startup Anthropic. This move comes alongside the news that OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman will be taking an extended leave until the end of the year, aiming to “relax and recharge” after nine years at the company.
Schulman’s Departure
His marks a pivotal moment for OpenAI. A company spokesperson 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.”
John Schulman himself shared his thoughts on the decision via a post on X, explaining that his move was driven by a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment — the science of ensuring AI behaves as intended.
John Schulman said, “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. I am confident that OpenAI and the teams I was part of will continue to thrive without me.”
OpenAI and Schulman
Schulman’s involvement with OpenAI began shortly after he completed his PhD in electrical engineering and computer sciences at UC Berkeley. He played a crucial role in the development of the AI-powered chatbot platform ChatGPT.
This led to OpenAI’s reinforcement training organization to fine-tune generative AI models for human-like interactions. The departure of Schulman follows that of AI safety researcher Jan Leike, who also joined Anthropic.
Schulman had taken over the head of OpenAI’s alignment science efforts, also known as the “post-training” team, and was a member of OpenAI’s recently formed safety committee. With his exit, it remains unclear who will fill his role in the alignment research and safety committee.
Greg Brockman’s Sabbatical
Greg Brockman’s leave comes after nearly a decade of significant contributions to OpenAI. His extended leave through the end of the year is seen as a much-needed break. OpenAI confirmed the news, stating that Brockman’s leave is intended for him to “relax and recharge.“.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman expressed his sentiments towards Schulman in a post on X, saying, “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.”.
Originally posted on OpenDataScience.com
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