[NEWS] OpenAI's CTO resigns as mainstream developers leave

Mira Murati, OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Announces Sudden Resignation on the 25th.

Mira Murati, who has led OpenAI’s technology team for six and a half years and played a key role in developing ChatGPT, announced her sudden resignation.

In a comment posted on X (formerly Twitter), Murati stated that after much deliberation, she made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. Regarding her departure, CEO Sam Altman expressed his gratitude on X, saying, "I am deeply grateful for everything Mira has helped us build and accomplish, and, most importantly, for the personal support and love she has given me during challenging times. I look forward to seeing what she does next."

Although rumors of her departure had been circulating for some time, it wasn’t expected to happen so suddenly. As the public face of OpenAI, Murati had been actively promoting the company over the past few weeks, demonstrating new products at developer events and giving interviews about OpenAI's activities.

In June, during a discussion at Dartmouth College, Murati made a potentially controversial remark about artists and writers. OpenAI is currently facing lawsuits for allegedly infringing on the copyrights of writers and newspapers. Murati stated, "Some creative jobs might disappear, but perhaps those jobs shouldn’t have existed in the first place."

Murati’s departure raises concerns about the thinning of OpenAI’s leadership team. After the board dismissed Altman last November, Murati served as interim CEO. By May, OpenAI’s Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever had resigned due to concerns over the safety measures surrounding the misuse of AI. Sutskever has since founded Safe Superintelligence, dedicated to safe AI development.

Around the same time, former Chief of Safety Jan Leike also sounded the alarm, stating that safety had been deprioritized in favor of creating impressive products, which led to his resignation. Leike explained that the AI safety team had "reached its limits" and decided to leave. In August, co-founder John Schulman moved to Anthropic, an AI company under Amazon.

Altman Could Become OpenAI’s First Shareholder

OpenAI is currently planning a new round of investments exceeding $100 billion. Microsoft has already invested $10 billion in OpenAI in exchange for 49% of the company’s future profits. Microsoft is reportedly planning to invest more into OpenAI. The AI developed by OpenAI is already being integrated into Excel and Word, driving innovation. Meanwhile, Thrive Capital, a U.S. venture capital (VC) firm specializing in tech and software startups, has announced a $1 billion investment in OpenAI, with Nvidia and Apple also expected to join the funding round.

OpenAI is considering granting Altman 7% equity and converting the company to a for-profit entity. If this happens, Altman would become OpenAI’s first shareholder. AI development requires enormous funding, and OpenAI’s investors, particularly Microsoft, expect it to generate profits. Altman may also feel compelled to prioritize profit. However, OpenAI was originally a nonprofit organization, with the goal of developing AI for the benefit of humanity.

Concerns about Altman prioritizing profits over safety, coupled with the potential power he would gain by holding equity, may have influenced Murati’s decision to resign.

Reference: Mira Murati

Image: Shutterstock

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