- OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, announced that she is leaving the company after more than six years.
- Murati is the latest high-level executive to depart the startup, following the departures of co-founder Ilya Sutskever, former safety lead Jan Leike, and co-founder John Schulman.
- Murati stated that she is stepping away to “create the time and space to do [her] own exploration,” while ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining the momentum built at OpenAI.
OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati said Wednesday she is leaving the company after more than six years.
Murati is the Latest High-Level Executive to Depart the Startup
Murati is the latest high-level executive to depart the startup. OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike announced their departures in May. Co-founder John Schulman said last month that he was leaving to join rival Anthropic.
Murati Wants Time for Her Own Exploration
Murati also wrote that she is stepping away because “I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.” She added, “For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we’ve built.”
OpenAI is Pursuing a Massive New Funding Round
OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed company behind ChatGPT and SearchGPT, is currently pursuing a funding round that would value the company at more than $150 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. Thrive Capital is leading the round and plans to invest $1 billion. Tiger Global is planning to join as well. Microsoft, Nvidia and Apple are reportedly also in talks to invest.
Concerns About OpenAI’s Rapid Growth
While OpenAI has been in hyper-growth mode since late 2022 when it launched ChatGPT, it’s been simultaneously riddled with controversy and high-level employee departures. Some current and former employees are concerned that the company is growing too quickly to operate safely.
Murati’s Controversial Comments on AI and Jobs
Murati raised eyebrows in June when she told an audience at The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Tech Live Conference that new AI tools will likely lead to the disappearance of some creative jobs. She said, “Some creative jobs maybe will go away but maybe they shouldn’t have been there in the first place if the content that comes out of it is not very high quality.”
Murati Briefly Served as Interim CEO Last Year
Murati became a well-known name when OpenAI’s board abruptly ousted CEO Sam Altman last November and Murati was named interim CEO. Almost all of OpenAI’s employees had signed an open letter saying they would leave in response to the board’s action. Days later, Altman was back at the company and Murati moved back to her former role as CTO.
Conclusion
Murati has been a central figure at OpenAI as it has rapidly grown into one of the most valuable and controversial startups pursuing advanced AI. Her departure comes during a period of massive change for the company.
