- OpenAI CTO Mira Murati abruptly resigned from the company amid reports that OpenAI is planning to become a for-profit corporation.
- CEO Sam Altman wasn't aware of Murati's decision until Wednesday morning, highlighting leadership chaos at OpenAI.
- Observers express concern that Altman-led OpenAI is increasingly favoring commercial interests and overlooking safety concerns.
On Wednesday, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced on X that she has decided to leave the company. The sudden resignation comes when OpenAI is reportedly restructuring the core business and moving away from the non-profit board to a for-profit corporation. Along with Murati, two other AI researchers, Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, tendered their resignation to the company.
Murati who was with OpenAI for over six years said, “After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI … I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.“
What came as a surprise is that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t know about Murati’s departure. In response to Murati’s exit, Altman wrote on X, “When Mira informed me this morning that she was leaving, I was saddened but of course support her decision.”
Murati’s exit was so unexpected that Altman acknowledged in his note to OpenAI staffers, “I obviously won’t pretend it’s natural for this one to be so abrupt, but we are not a normal company…” But what explains the flurry of resignations from OpenAI in recent months? Let’s look at the timeline of resignations.
Exodus of Top Executives at OpenAI
Ever since the failed coup at OpenAI last year where the non-profit board, led by Ilya Sutskever, tried to oust Sam Altman, the company has seen a series of high-profile departures. First, OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever left the company in May 2024 to start his own venture, Safe Superintelligence Inc.
Soon after, OpenAI superalignment researcher, Jan Leike, resigned from the company citing safety concerns. Next in August 2024, Greg Brockman, OpenAI President and co-founder, announced that he is going on an extended leave through the end of this year. And John Schulman, one of the founding members, left OpenAI to join the rival AI lab, Anthropic.
Now, in September, Mira Murati who was seen as a trusted confidante of CEO Sam Altman, left the company abruptly. With Murati’s departure, nearly all of the OpenAI founding members have left the company, leaving only Sam Altman and Wojciech Zaremba in the trenches.
Is OpenAI’s Profit-Driven Ambition Creating Chaos?
As Mira Murati announced her departure, Reuters reported that OpenAI is working to restructure the company so that the non-profit board will no longer have control over the for-profit corporation. The non-profit board will exist, but it will have a minority stake in the company, leaving the governance of OpenAI to profit-driven investors. And with the new structure in place, CEO Sam Altman is likely to receive equity worth $150 billion.
As for the board members, OpenAI recently appointed Paul Nakasone, the former NSA chief which raised eyebrows in the tech and privacy communities. The retired Army General was also added to OpenAI’s Safety and Security Committee. Given his background in cyber security and intelligence, some critics expressed concern and said that it signals a shift in OpenAI’s mission.
The governance of OpenAI is the central question here. Everyone, including investors and governments, wants to have control over OpenAI as it’s one of the leading AI labs developing powerful technologies that could impact humanity worldwide. The tussle to control OpenAI is emblematic of the power struggle between commercial interests and ethical concerns.
With the proposed for-profit structuring and departure of nearly all founding members, the governance and mission of OpenAI are at stake. Will it work for the benefit of humanity or favor commercial interests in the future? Only time will tell.
