In a surprising turn of events, OpenAI founder John Schulman quit OpenAI and decided to join rival AI lab Anthropic. On the other hand, Greg Brockman, OpenAI president and one of the co-founders, has gone on "sabbatical" until the end of this year. First reported by The Information, and officially confirmed by Schulman and Brockman at X, it appears that the OpenAI leadership is once again going through something of a transition.

After Jan Leike resigned from OpenAI and joined Anthropic in May due to lack of computation of adaptation research and security concerns, John Schulman became director of adaptation research at the company. Schulman also recently became a member of the OpenAI Safety Committee. In that context, the departure seems particularly surprising. I shared the following note with my OpenAI colleagues today: I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI customization and to start a new chapter in my career where I can return to hands-on technical work. I've decided… — John Schulman (@johnschulman2) August 6, 2024

I shared the following note with my OpenAI colleagues today: I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI. This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI customization and to start a new chapter in my career where I can return to hands-on technical work. I've decided… — John Schulman (@johnschulman2) August 6, 2024

That said, Schulman says, "To be clear, I'm not leaving because of a lack of support for adaptation research at OpenAI. On the contrary, company leaders have been very committed to investing in this area." His decision to join Anthropic is “personal” and focused on getting “new perspectives and research with people who are deeply engaged in the topics I am most interested in.” I am taking a sabbatical until the end of the year relax since I co-founded OpenAI 9 years ago, the mission is far from over; we still have a secure AGI to build.— Greg Brockman (@gdb) August 6, 2024