3 top OpenAI executives depart as Sam Altman rejigs leadership team

San Francisco, Sep 26: In a significant development at the Sam Altman-run OpenAI, three top executives — including Chief Technical Officer Mira Murati — have left the ChatGPT developer.

According to Altman, they made the decision to leave independently of each other and amicably. Of the 13 people who helped found OpenAI in 2015, only three now remain at the company.

“But the timing of Mira’s decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership,” he posted on X social media platform.

“Mira has been instrumental to OpenAI’s progress and growth the last 6.5 years; she has been a hugely significant factor in our development from an unknown research lab to an important company,” said the OpenAI CEO.

Murati said in a separate X post that after much reflection, “I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI”.

“There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right. My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAI team have been an extraordinary privilege,” she added.

Altman said that Matt Knight, formerly head of security, will be OpenAI’s chief information security officer.

Chief product officer Kevin Weil and VP of engineering, Srinivas Narayanan, will continue to lead OpenAI’s applied team. Josh Achiam will be the Chief Scientist at the AI company.

“Achiam is going to take on a new role as Head of Mission Alignment, working across the company to ensure that we get all pieces (and culture) right to be in a place to succeed at the mission. Kevin and Srinivas will continue to lead the Applied team,” announced Altman.

“Mark, Jakub, Kevin, Srinivas, Matt, and Josh will report to me. I have over the past year or so spent most of my time on the non-technical parts of our organisation; I am now looking forward to spending most of my time on the technical and product parts of the company,” he added.

According to Altman, leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding.