OpenAI CTO Mira Murati exits after pivotal role in AI development

OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati has announced her decision to leave the artificial intelligence company after six and a half years.

In a statement posted on X, Murati said she is “stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration.” She emphasized her focus on ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining the company’s momentum as she departs.

Murati joined OpenAI in 2018 and played a key role in developing some of the company’s most prominent AI products, including the ChatGPT chatbot and DALL-E image generator. She briefly served as interim CEO during the tumultuous boardroom shake-up in November 2023 that saw co-founder Sam Altman temporarily ousted.

The timing of Murati’s exit comes just days before OpenAI’s annual developer conference in San Francisco, where the company typically unveils updates to its AI tools and platforms.

In response to Murati’s announcement, CEO Sam Altman praised her contributions: “It’s hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally.” He added that the company will provide more details on transition plans soon.

Murati’s departure marks another significant change for OpenAI’s leadership team following last year’s management upheaval. Prior to joining OpenAI, she worked on AI initiatives at Tesla.

In her farewell message, Murati expressed gratitude to her colleagues and highlighted OpenAI’s recent achievements in speech-to-speech technology and the release of the GPT-4 language model. She noted that these developments “mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence.”

OpenAI formed a new Safety and Security Committee in May, amid internal unrest and criticisms regarding its self-regulation and safety prioritization. Notably, its co-Founder and ex-Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever left in May to establish Safe Superintelligence, aiming for the development of AI systems prioritizing safety and adherence to human values.

The AI company has faced criticism for adding a former NSA head to its board, amidst fears of increased surveillance, although the company maintained this would enhance its cybersecurity.

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