OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is leaving

OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is leaving the company, she announced on Wednesday.

"I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration," she wrote in a post on X. "For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built."

This comes almost a year after a boardroom coup shook the AI startup and temporarily ousted CEO Sam Altman, leaving Murati as its temporary leader. Prior to OpenAI, Murati worked at Tesla on its AI efforts.

In her six-year tenure, Murati was responsible for managing the company's popular chatbot, ChatGPT, as well as its text-to-image generator, DALL-E.

This news also comes at a seemingly cursed time for OpenAI. The company's annual Dev Day conference is coming to San Francisco just next week, where the company typically announces updates for AI developer tools. Last year, the boardroom coup happened just after the first-ever Dev Day took place.

"It's hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally," Altman said in a reply to Murati's note. "I feel tremendous gratitude towards her for what she has helped us build and accomplish, but I most of all feel personal gratitude towards her for the support and love during all the hard times. I am excited for what she'll do next."

Altman added that the company will say more about its transition plans "soon."

We've pasted Murati's full memo below:

Hi all,I have something to share with you. After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAl.My six-and-a-half years with the OpenAl team have been an extraordinary privilege. While I'll express my gratitude to many individuals in the coming days, I want to start by thanking Sam and Greg for their trust in me to lead the technical organization and for their support throughout the years.There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right. Our recent releases of speech-to-speech and OpenAl o1 mark the beginning of a new era in interaction and intelligence - achievements made possible by your ingenuity and craftsmanship. We didn't merely build smarter models, we fundamentally changed how Al systems learn and reason through complex problems.We brought safety research from the theoretical realm into practical applications, creating models that are more robust, aligned, and steerable than ever before. Our work has made cutting-edge Al research intuitive and accessible, developing technology that adapts and evolves based on everyone's input. This success is a testament to our outstanding teamwork, and it is because of your brilliance, your dedication, and your commitment that OpenAl stands at the pinnacle of Al innovation.I'm stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we've built.I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to build and work alongside this remarkable team. Together, we've pushed the boundaries of scientific understanding in our quest to improve human well-being.While I may no longer be in the trenches with you, I will still be rooting for you all.With deep gratitude for the friendships forged, the triumphs achieved, and most importantly, the challenges overcome together.Mira

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