OpenAI Co-founder Schulman Departs for Anthropic; Brockman on Leave

John Schulman, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, has left the company for rival AI startup Anthropic.

Brockman's Sabbatical

OpenAI has also announced that president and co-founder Greg Brockman will be on an extended leave until the end of the year to take a break and rejuvenate after nine years with the company.

Recent Departures from OpenAI

Peter Deng, who joined OpenAI last year and previously led products at Meta, Uber, and Airtable, left the company some time ago. This news, along with Brockman’s leave, was reported by The Information.

OpenAI's Statement on Schulman's Exit

In a statement, OpenAI expressed gratitude for Schulman’s contributions, noting his foundational work in alignment research. They praised his dedication and hard work, which have set a strong foundation for future innovations.

Schulman’s Focus on AI Alignment

Schulman announced his decision on X, explaining that it was driven by a desire to focus more on AI alignment—the science of making sure AI systems act as intended—and to be more involved in technical work.

Schulman’s New Role at Anthropic

Schulman stated, “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.” He expressed confidence that OpenAI and the teams he was part of will continue to succeed.

Schulman’s Contributions to OpenAI

After completing his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, Schulman played a crucial role at OpenAI, particularly in developing ChatGPT. He led the reinforcement training team, which is responsible for fine-tuning AI models to follow human instructions.

Leadership Changes and AI Safety

Following Jan Leike’s departure to Anthropic, Schulman took over the leadership of OpenAI’s alignment science efforts and joined the safety committee. It is currently unclear who will replace him in these roles.

Schulman's Departure and Future Focus

Schulman emphasized that his departure was not due to a lack of support from OpenAI’s leadership, who have been committed to 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.”

Remaining Founders at OpenAI

With Schulman’s departure, only three of OpenAI’s original 11 founders remain including CEO Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Wojciech Zaremba, who leads the language and code generation efforts.

Altman's Farewell to Schulman

In a post on X, Altman thanked Schulman for his contributions to OpenAI, praising him as a brilliant researcher, a thoughtful individual regarding product and societal impacts, and a great friend. Altman expressed that Schulman would be missed and promised to make him proud.