In a surprise move, John Schulman, co-founder of OpenAI, has announced that he will be leaving the company to join rival AI startup Anthropic. Schulman, who worked on refining models for OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and was head of alignment science, cited a desire to focus on AI alignment and return to hands-on technical work.
Schulman’s departure comes less than three months after OpenAI disbanded its superalignment team, which focused on ensuring that people can control AI systems that exceed human capability at many tasks. His move also follows the departure of other safety leaders, including Jan Leike and Ilya Sutskever, who left OpenAI earlier this year.
Despite his departure, Schulman praised OpenAI’s commitment to investing in AI alignment, stating that company leaders have been “very committed to investing in this area.” OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, also acknowledged Schulman’s contributions to the company’s early strategy.
Schulman’s decision to join Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon, marks a significant move in the AI space. OpenAI and Anthropic are rivals in developing generative AI models, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot being a leading example.
The move has sparked interest in the AI community, with many speculating about the implications of Schulman’s departure. As AI technology continues to advance, the need for experts like Schulman to focus on AI alignment and safety has become increasingly important.
In related news, Greg Brockman, another co-founder of OpenAI and its president, announced that he would be taking a sabbatical for the rest of the year. The move comes as OpenAI continues to navigate the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
