Key OpenAI Executives Who Departed Following the 2023 Attempt to Remove CEO Sam Altman

Over the past year, OpenAI has experienced a significant loss of leadership talent.

The most recent departure is Lilian Weng, who declared her intent to leave on Friday after dedicating seven years to the company as VP of Research and Safety.

Her decision to leave comes in the wake of organizational turnovers in September, when Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and senior leaders Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph also decided to exit OpenAI.

CEO Sam Altman addressed these changes by stating that shifts in leadership are normally expected in fast-growing, high-demand companies, though he acknowledged that this transition has been unexpectedly swift.

He remarked, "Our company is unlike typical corporations," underlying the unusual speed of recent executive turnover.

OpenAI has encountered various leadership exits since its inception in 2015, with co-founder Elon Musk stepping down from the board back in 2018.

However, the attempt to remove Altman as CEO last November triggered an even higher turnover of executives and key figures within the company.

The move to oust Altman was supported by some board members and top employees, creating a divide within OpenAI. Former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, who left after the botched ouster, accused Altman of fostering a "culture of deceit."

Toner and McCauley highlighted a growing split within the organization: while some have called for externally regulated oversight on AI development, others argue for self-regulation.

These internal conflicts and executive departures have sparked widespread discourse and even parody across social platforms.

Here is a rundown of significant figures who have parted ways with OpenAI since the contentious episode last November.

Helen Toner

Toner departed from OpenAI's board in November of the previous year.

She has since articulated Altman’s alleged misdeeds, citing this as a reason behind her vote for his removal. Among her accusations was his failure to inform the board ahead of the ChatGPT release, which the board discovered through Twitter, and misinformation regarding the company’s ownership structure.

Tasha McCauley

McCauley resigned simultaneously with Toner last November, and they were notably the sole female board members at that time.

Together with Toner, McCauley articulated concerns about Altman's messy reintegration onto the board and noted the exodus of high-profile safety experts as symptomatic of ineffective self-regulation in an op-ed for The Economist.

Andrej Karpathy

Karpathy declared his exit from OpenAI through a social media post in February, mentioning nothing specific triggered his departure and reflecting positively on his recent tenure.

Now leading Eureka Labs, which specializes in educational AI, Karpathy was a foundational research scientist when OpenAI launched. He briefly left for Tesla in 2017 before rejoining in 2023.

Jan Leike

In May, Leike publicized his resignation from OpenAI, subsequently joining Anthropic in a leadership role within their alignment science division.

As co-leader of OpenAI’s Superalignment team, Leike had doubts about the current hierarchy’s focus, which prioritized product dazzle over safety protocols.

He emphasized the rift between OpenAI’s focus on glitzy products over the previously prevalent safety-first culture.

Ilya Sutskever

Prior to his departure, Sutskever, a co-founder and chief scientist, was directly involved in the initiative to remove Altman in November.

Despite leaving, Sutskever lauded the groundbreaking progress of the company and expressed faith in leaders such as Altman, Brockman, and Murati to further develop beneficial artificial general intelligence. As of June, he co-founded Safe Superintelligence.

Peter Deng

Vice President of Product, Peter Deng's tenure at OpenAI was brief, commencing in 2023 and ending earlier this year. His LinkedIn still lists OpenAI as the employer, but no further comments have been forthcoming.

John Schulman

In August, Schulman declared his decision to pivot to Anthropic, attributing his move to a renewed interest in hands-on AI alignment.

Co-founder and researcher Schulman expressed that OpenAI was the only workplace he has known outside an internship as he bid farewell.

Mira Murati

Former Chief Technology Officer Murati signaled her departure in September, underscoring a need for personal exploration.

Previously, Murati had temporarily assumed CEO duties amid Altman’s firing saga. Although she raised issues with his leadership, claims that she sought to dismiss Altman were dismissed by her legal representative.

Bob McGrew

McGrew, who rose to Chief Research Officer, announced plans to take a break post-launch of the organization's recent model, referring to this as a fitting closure to his work at OpenAI. He remains for two additional months during the leadership transition.

Barret Zoph

Zoph, VP of Research (Post-Training), declared his departure, reflecting on his contribution to the foundational post-training team and evoking the next career steps he sought.

The collective departure of McGrew, Murati, and Zoph was amicable and independently decided, as per Altman’s internal memo.

Lilian Weng

Concluding a nearly seven-year stint, Weng announced her exit while reminiscing on her contributions, with notable breakthroughs during her tenure.

Under her supervision, the team focused on minimizing societal impacts from advanced OpenAI models, working alongside an 80-strong group of diverse experts.