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Three key OpenAI staff members – CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and Research VP Barret Zoph – are leaving the ChatGPT maker.
Murati described the decision as “difficult,” but wrote that “this moment feels right.” She said she is leaving “because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.”
Murati was joined by McGrew, who said: “It is time for me to take a break.” Regarding his departure, Zoph stated: “This is a personal decision based on how I want to evolve the next phase of my career.”
Murati briefly served as OpenAI CEO during the firing and rehiring of Sam Altman last year.
Altman posted a glowing tribute to the departing staffers and called Murati “instrumental to OpenAI’s progress and growth the last 6.5 years.” The OpenAI boss also insisted that the other departures were entirely coincidental and “decisions made independently of each other.”
Jason Wong, Gartner analyst, told The Register: “It’s clear with the departures of the co-founders, and high-profile engineering leaders, that OpenAI is being remade with Sam’s vision. His manifesto and the shift to a for-profit entity also reinforces his vision for the business.
“This could have significant impact on OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft, which clearly stated they view OpenAI as a competitor. Microsoft has already started to downplay the importance of OpenAI models in their overall AI strategy. For enterprises, uncertainty is not good for business and key tech investments like generative AI. Other frontier models – especially more open ones – have caught up to OpenAI, which will further influence decisions to derisk by moving away from OpenAI or spread their risk using other models.”
AI expert Dr Gary Marcus described the events at OpenAI as a “slow-motion train wreck.”
OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever quit earlier this year. Another co-founder, Greg Brockman, announced he would be taking a sabbatical until the end of the year, and now Murati is leaving.
It’s almost as if a person had asked ChatGPT to write a soap opera set in an absurdly overvalued AI company.
Murati’s departure comes alongside a Reuters report citing sources saying OpenAI is working on a plan that will take control away from its non-profit board and instead restructure the business as a for-profit corporation.
Such a move could lead to Altman receiving equity in the for-profit company, making the timing of Murati’s departure even more interesting. Other reports earlier in September put OpenAI’s value at $150 billion as part of an impending funding round. Quite a jump from the $90 billion figure thrown around a year ago.
Marcus wrote: “GPT-5 hasn’t dropped, Sora hasn’t shipped, the company had an operating loss of $5 billion last year, there is no obvious moat, Meta is giving away similar software for free, many lawsuits pending.
“Yet people are valuing this company at $150 billion dollars.
“Absolutely insane. Investors shouldn’t be pouring more money at higher valuations, they should be asking what is going on.”
When we asked OpenAI for comment, it had nothing to add about the departures specifically, with a spokesperson saying: “We remain focused on building AI that benefits everyone and as we’ve previously shared we’re working with our board to ensure that we’re best positioned to succeed in our mission. The nonprofit is core to our mission and will continue to exist.”
It didn’t mention whether the non-profit would actually have control, however. ®
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