OpenAI’s chief research officer, Bob McGrew, and a research VP, Barret Zoph, have left the company hours after OpenAI CTO Mira Murati announced she would be departing.
CEO Sam Altman revealed the two latest resignations in a post on X Wednesday evening, along with leadership transition plans.
“Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably, but the timing of Mira’s decision was such that it made sense to now do this all at once, so that we can work together for a smooth handover to the next generation of leadership,” he said.
VP of research Mark Chen is being promoted to OpenAI’s new SVP of research, and will lead the company’s research org in partnership with Jakub Pachocki as chief scientist, Altman said.
Matt Knight, formerly head of security, will be OpenAI’s chief information security officer. And chief product officer Kevin Weil and VP of engineering Srinivas Narayanan will continue to lead OpenAI’s applied team, which brings the company’s tech to consumer and business customers.
Josh Achiam, a research scientist, will be taking on a new role as head of mission alignment. Altman says he’ll be “working across the company to ensure that we get all pieces (and culture) right to be in a place to succeed at the mission.”
