All OpenAI leaders who have left the 2023 leadership battle

• OpenAI has lost a slew of key leaders since last year’s effort to let go of CEO Sam Altman.
• Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati became the latest high-profile employee to leave on Wednesday.
• Here are 10 OpenAI leaders who have left the company since November.

OpenAI has lost a lot of top talent in recent months.

The latest example came on Wednesday, when Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said the company would be leaving ChatGPT behind.

Shortly after, CEO Sam Altman said that two other executives, Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, would also be leaving OpenAI.

Altman said in a note announcing McGrew and Zoph’s departures that “leadership changes are a natural part of companies, especially companies that grow so quickly and are so demanding.”

He added: “Obviously I’m not going to pretend it’s natural for it to be so sudden, but we’re not a normal company.”

Like many companies, OpenAI has seen turnover among the highest since its founding in 2015. Co-founder Elon Musk left the company’s board in 2018, for example.

But since the attempt to oust Altman as CEO of OpenAI last November, the company has lost several key executives and leaders.

The attempt to oust Altman involved several OpenAI board members as well as top company employees. Former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley, who left the board after the failed ouster, said Altman had created “a toxic culture of lying.”

Toner and McCauley also pointed to a broader divide within OpenAI: Some employees, including many who quit since November, have called for more independent oversight of companies developing AI technologies. Others believe that companies like OpenAI can regulate themselves.

The departures have even become numerous enough to provoke memes on social media. OpenAI is also operating without president Greg Brockman, who is on leave until the end of 2024.

Here are 10 leaders who have left OpenAI since the November conflict: