ChatGPT company OpenAI is experiencing a wave of high-level departures. As announced on Wednesday, CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew and VP of Research Barret Zoph are leaving the company. CEO Sam Altman emphasized that the decisions were made independently and by mutual agreement.
At the same time, OpenAI is apparently planning a major restructuring. According to media reports, the company is to be converted to a for-profit structure, in which CEO Altman could receive a 7% equity stake. These plans may be related to the departures, as they may have led to disagreements over the future direction of the company.
In response to the departures, OpenAI announced a number of internal promotions and new appointments. Mark Chen becomes the new senior vice president of research, while Jakub Pachocki takes over as chief scientist. Industry observers see the changes as a potential challenge to OpenAI’s market position as competitors such as Google and Meta catch up in AI development.
Sources: VentureBeat, TechCrunch, CNBC