Unexpected developments have occurred at OpenAI, one of the leading companies in the field of artificial intelligence. The company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Mira Murati, announced her resignation on Wednesday through a statement on the social media platform X.
Mira Murati will no longer be working for OpenAI!
Murati, who has held various leadership roles at OpenAI since 2018, most recently served as CTO. During her six-and-a-half-year career, she led the development of important projects such as DALL-E, Codex, Sora, and ChatGPT, while also managing the research and safety teams.
In a letter to staff, Murati said, “After a long period of reflection, I’ve made the decision to step away from OpenAI,” and thanked CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman for their support. She cited her desire to create time and space for her own explorations as the reason behind her decision but did not provide details about her future plans.
This surprising departure comes at a significant turning point for OpenAI. According to a report by Reuters published today, the company is planning to change its nonprofit structure and turn its main business into a for-profit benefit corporation. This move would allow CEO Sam Altman to hold equity in the company for the first time and could potentially raise OpenAI’s valuation to $150 billion.
Murati’s departure is the latest in a series of recent changes in OpenAI’s top management. In May 2024, former Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever left to start his own company, and one of OpenAI’s co-founders, John Schulman, joined rival firm Anthropic.
These developments raise questions about OpenAI’s research trajectory toward its goal of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the internal dynamics of the company. CEO Altman expressed gratitude for Murati’s contributions and stated that more information about transition plans would be shared soon.