Murati’s resignation is further proof that something is not working at OpenAI. And perhaps what is not working is Altman.

Storm at OpenAI. Yet another one, actually. After the chaos experienced almost a year ago, the company is now facing a series of moves that will define its future. The latest of these moves has been made by Mira Murati, who until now was the company’s CTO and who has announced that she is leaving her position “to have time and space to do my own exploration.” The question is whether that is the only reason.

He’s leaving, but not yetSources close to the decision say on Wired While Murati is stepping down, she is not doing so immediately. No specific date has been set for her departure from the company, and “discussions are ongoing between her and OpenAI management to ensure a smooth transition.”

In October 2023, Wired featured the four great AI “lords” on its cover in a report on OpenAI. Sutskever (first from left) resigned, Murati has just resigned, and Brockman (second from left) is on leave.

It’s all weird. Wired editor Katie Drumm commented on Threads that this may suggest two things. First, that as Altman said, the resignation was indeed very amicable between the two parties. Second, that it was not at all, which would make sense given that Murati has used your own X account to announce his decision.

Total stampedeThe events of November 2023 ultimately had seismic consequences in the following months. The departures of founders and executives of the company gradually began: from Ilya Sutskever, who ended up creating his own startup, to Murati, it is particularly striking that the original team has disintegrated in this way.

Disagreements. Even in that first crisis, there was talk of clear disagreements between Sam Altman and the top management, with Sutskever being one who supported Altman’s dismissal. The CEO has always wanted to launch and market his AI models immediately, leaving the security of said models in the background: many of his colleagues did not have the same vision and preferred to resign.

Superalignment. One example is Jan Leike, who was the head of the “superalignment” team. That initiative advocated the development of safe AI, but Altman didn’t seem to take that approach very seriously and Leike left. making clear who had been “at odds with OpenAI’s leadership” for some time. He ended up joining Anthropic, OpenAI’s main rival.

Is the financing round in danger? There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the colossal round of investment that OpenAI is preparing. Murati’s resignation comes at a particularly delicate time, and raises new questions about a company that is burning money like there’s no tomorrow and needs much more as soon as possible.

Resignations, money and secrets. The economic details of these latest exoduses have not been revealed either, but in Vox Altman, who previously reported in May 2024, said that former OpenAI employees cannot talk about the company if they do not want to lose their shares in the company. Those who leave the company, they stated in that report, are exposed to “highly restrictive exit documents.” denied There are no such rumours, but various reports analysed by Vox indicated exactly the opposite. These “friendly” resignations seem to be so only in the public eye: those affected probably have to keep the true motivation secret so as not to lose a lot of money along the way.

Image | Village Global | Mira Murati (X)

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