OpenAI co-founder John Schulman joins rival startup Anthropic

John Schulman, a prominent co-founder of OpenAI, has departed the company to join AI startup Anthropic, driven by his wish to focus on AI alignment—ensuring AI behaves as intended. Schulman, a key figure in developing ChatGPT and leading OpenAI's post-training team, aims to engage in more technical hands-on work at Anthropic. Despite controversies surrounding OpenAI, Schulman clarified that his departure wasn't due to a lack of support but rather personal aspirations. OpenAI also confirmed that Greg Brockman, another co-founder, is taking an extended leave for personal rejuvenation. With Schulman's exit, only three of the original 11 founders remain at OpenAI.

Additionally, former product manager Peter Deng and AI safety researcher Jan Leike have also left OpenAI, the latter joining Schulman at Anthropic. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, expressed gratitude towards Schulman for his contributions, calling him a "brilliant researcher" and a "great friend."

Source: TechCrunch