John Schulman, one of OpenAI’s co-founders who played a leading role in the development of ChatGPT, has left the company to join rival company Anthropic.
The move is the latest in a number of senior figures leaving the ChatGPT maker over the past few months.
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Schulman is reportedly leaving OpenAI to work on the alignment arm of Anthropic, a research group which works on ensuring AI conforms to human values.
“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, alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I’m most interested in,” Schulman said on Monday (5 August) in a memo to his former colleagues.
“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,” he said.
Schulman’s exit comes at a time of growth and unrest for OpenAI. Last November, CEO Sam Altman was fired from the company, only to return to his position five days later following pressure from employees.
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By GlobalDataMost of the directors which had a hand in the firing of Altman have now been replaced.
OpenAI has also been the subject of persistent scrutiny from lawmakers and industry leaders, who believe the speed of its AI development and the direction of its research could have dangerous consequences.
The value of global AI deals totalled $331bn throughout 2023, an increase from $211bn in 2022, according to GlobalData’s deal database.
In 2023, the value of global AI deals peaked in the second quarter (Q2), with the sector raising $119bn. This was a slight increase over the beginning of the year, which saw deals valued at $104bn. However, in Q3 the value of AI deals fell significantly lower, totalling $68bn.
GlobalData predicts the total AI market will be worth $908.7bn by 2030.
