Mira Murati, the chief technology officer of OpenAI, announced her resignation on Wednesday, expressing a desire for “the time and space to do my own exploration.” Murati was one of the top three executives at OpenAI, known for developing ChatGPT, and had briefly stepped in as its leader last year during a turbulent period involving CEO Sam Altman’s future.
In a message to OpenAI employees shared on X, she reflected on her decision, stating, “There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right.” Altman responded to her post, emphasizing Murati’s significant contributions to the organization and expressing personal gratitude for her support during challenging times.
In a subsequent post, Altman acknowledged Murati’s role over the past six and a half years in transforming OpenAI from a lesser-known research lab to a major player in the AI industry. He expressed sadness at her departure but affirmed his support for her choice.
Alongside Murati’s resignation, Altman disclosed that chief research officer Bob McGrew and vice president of research Barret Zoph are also leaving the company. While no immediate successor for Murati has been announced, a reshuffled leadership team has been detailed in light of these changes.
Murati joined OpenAI in 2018 after previous roles at Tesla and Leap Motion, at a time when the organization was a small nonprofit focused on developing human-like AI capabilities. Since then, the success of ChatGPT has fueled significant growth and a shift towards commercial endeavors, prompting revisions to its nonprofit structure and attracting substantial investments.
Murati has previously expressed her belief in the immense importance of AI technologies for humanity. OpenAI experienced a significant upheaval last November, which saw Altman briefly ousted before being reinstated following employee unrest and investor intervention.
In recent months, several other leaders and engineers from OpenAI have left, including Ilya Sutskever, Jan Leike, and John Schulman. Sutskever has since launched a new venture focused on safe AI, while former OpenAI research chief Dario Amodei founded rival company Anthropic.
As for Murati, discussions are reportedly ongoing regarding her final day at OpenAI to ensure a smooth transition.