Mira Murati, the Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, a Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence startup, has announced her departure, marking the latest in a series of high-profile exits from the company this year. Murati, who played a pivotal role in OpenAI’s AI advancements, shared the news in a post on X (formerly Twitter), citing her intention to “create the time and space to do [her] own exploration.”
In her announcement, Murati expressed her appreciation for OpenAI’s leadership, thanking CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman for their collaborative efforts in pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence. “I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI,” she wrote, reflecting on her journey with the team.
Shortly after Murati’s revelation, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman disclosed that two more senior executives, Barret Zoph, VP of Research, and Bob McGrew, Chief Research Officer, also resigned. These departures continue a string of leadership transitions at OpenAI.
The leadership shakeup comes at a critical juncture for OpenAI as it prepares to close a major $6.5 billion funding round. According to a Reuters report, this financing deal could value the company at $150 billion. The deal is reportedly tied to OpenAI’s restructuring into a for-profit benefit corporation, a move that would grant Altman an equity stake. It remains unclear how Murati’s departure will affect the ongoing fundraising, as agreements of this nature often allow investors to renegotiate terms in response to major leadership changes.
Murati’s six-year tenure at OpenAI began in 2017. She temporarily served as CEO when the board ousted Sam Altman, and prior to becoming CTO in May 2022, she held roles as VP of Applied AI and Partnerships. Before OpenAI, Murati worked at Tesla and augmented reality startup Leap Motion.
As CTO, Murati was a visible figure at OpenAI, regularly appearing alongside Altman to announce significant developments, including the introduction of the GPT-4o model, which can conduct lifelike voice conversations.
OpenAI has seen a steady stream of executive departures in recent months. In August, co-founder John Schulman revealed he had joined competing AI company Anthropic. Additionally, co-founder Greg Brockman announced a sabbatical until the end of the year, while Chief Scientist and co-founder Ilya Sutskever exited the company in May.
Despite these changes, Altman confirmed several internal promotions. Matt Knight will now take on the role of Chief Information Security Officer, Josh Achiam will lead Mission Alignment, and Mark Chen has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Research.
