John Schulman Leaves OpenAI for Rival Anthropic

John Schulman, co-founder of the artificial intelligence company OpenAI, has announced his departure to join rival firm Anthropic. Schulman revealed this career move on social media platform X, emphasizing his desire to focus more deeply on AI alignment and return to hands-on technical work.

A New Chapter in AI Alignment:

“This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work,” Schulman wrote.

He expressed his belief that Anthropic would offer him fresh perspectives and opportunities to engage in research alongside individuals passionate about AI alignment.

John Schulman Clarifying His Departure:

Schulman made it clear that his decision to leave OpenAI was not due to any lack of support for alignment research at his former company. “To be clear, I’m not leaving due to lack of support for alignment research at OpenAI.

On the contrary, company leaders have been very committed to investing in this area. My decision is personal, based on how I want to focus my efforts in the next phase of my career,” he explained.

Reflecting on His Tenure at OpenAI:

Reflecting on his nearly nine years at OpenAI, Schulman recounted his journey with gratitude and pride. “I joined OpenAI almost nine years ago as part of the founding team after grad school. It’s the first and only company where I’ve ever worked other than an internship. It’s also been quite a lot of fun.

I’m grateful to Sam and Greg for recruiting me back at the beginning and Mira and Bob for putting a lot of faith in me, bringing great opportunities, and helping me successfully navigate various challenges. I’m proud of what we’ve all achieved at OpenAI: building an unusual and unprecedented company with a public benefit mission.”

John Schulman Changes at OpenAI:

Schulman’s departure is part of a broader wave of significant personnel changes at OpenAI. President and co-founder Greg Brockman has announced a sabbatical lasting until the end of the year.

Product manager Peter Deng, who joined OpenAI last year, has also exited the company. In July, AI safety leader Aleksander Madry was reassigned to another role, and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever left the company in May. Another founding member, Andrej Karpathy, departed OpenAI in February.

Elon Musk’s Exit and Lawsuit:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of the original co-founders of OpenAI, also left the company and has since revived his lawsuit against CEO Sam Altman. Musk alleges that the firm prioritizes profits and commercial interests over public good.

The departures of key figures like Schulman and others signal a transition period for OpenAI as it continues to navigate the challenges and chances in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.