OpenAI’s Top Brass Exit Unrelated to Restructuring, CEO Altman Maintains

September 27, 2024 – According to a report by Reuters, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has dismissed any correlation between the departures of three top executives and the company’s planned reorganization, stating that the board has been contemplating this restructuring for several months.

Yesterday, OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, unexpectedly announced her resignation. Within hours, two senior research directors, Barret Zoph and Bob McGrew, also revealed their intentions to leave the company.

On the same day, it was revealed that OpenAI is developing a plan to reorganize its core business as a profit-making benefit corporation, shifting control away from its non-profit board. This move is aimed at enhancing the company’s appeal to investors.

Speaking at the Italian Technology Week conference in Turin, Altman stated that certain “reports” surrounding the executive departures were inaccurate, adding that the personnel changes were unrelated to the reorganization. “A lot of what I’ve seen is completely wrong, but we’ve been contemplating this [reorganization] for nearly a year. Our board has been independently thinking about how we can move into the next phase,” he explained.

Altman praised the departing executives and expressed his enthusiasm for simplifying the company’s structure, allowing for closer collaboration with technical staff. “I haven’t been as involved in technical matters recently as I used to be due to various happenings, but I’m looking forward to getting back into it,” he said.

“This will be a process that we hope will bring a smooth transition for all involved, and as a result, OpenAI will emerge stronger, as we have done through all our transitions,” Altman concluded.

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