OpenAI's CTO, Other Execs Step Down

Mira Murati, others left 'independently of each other and amicably,' per CEO Sam Altman
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 26, 2024 6:22 AM CDT
OpenAI's CTO, Other Execs Step Down
Mira Murati is seen on Nov. 6 in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Barbara Ortutay, File)

OpenAI just lost quite a few of its top dogs. SFGate reports that CTO Mira Murati, 35, is stepping down from her post at "San Francisco's buzziest tech startup," as are Bob McGrew, the artificial intelligence company's chief research officer, and Barret Zoph, research VP. CEO Sam Altman said in an X post that the trio "made these decisions independently of each other and amicably."

Murati—who was part of the OpenAI team for more than six years and even served as its interim CEO when Altman was temporarily ousted last year—said in her own post that she's leaving ChatGPT's maker "because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration." She added that her main goal before she leaves for good "is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built." The AP notes that her exit and those of McGrew and Zoph are just the latest, after co-founders Ilya Sutskever and John Schulman left earlier this year.

Another co-founder, Greg Brockman, who also serves as OpenAI's president, revealed over the summer that he was taking a "sabbatical" through the end of 2024. A source tells CNBC that the news of the executives' departure comes just as the company is mulling over plans to shuffle things around to turn OpenAI into a for-profit business, with its nonprofit arm kept as a separate entity. In his post, Altman announced multiple role changes at the company, though he didn't specifically name who would replace Murati as chief technology officer. (More OpenAI stories.)

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