OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research laboratory, has experienced significant leadership changes in recent days. Two prominent figures at the company, Jan Leike and Ilya Sutskever, have announced their resignations.
Jan Leike, who co-led OpenAI's superalignment group and was named one of Time 100's most influential people in AI last September, made the announcement on Twitter. His departure follows that of Ilya Sutskever, an OpenAI co-founder and its former chief scientist.
Ilya Sutskever also announced his departure from OpenAI on X, where he expressed excitement about his next steps without revealing further details.
The departures come amid a series of high-profile exits from the safety team at OpenAI. Two researchers, Leopold Aschenbrenner and Pavel Izmailov, were also let go.
Ilya Sutskever had previously led a board move to oust CEO Sam Altman last fall but later reversed his decision and supported Altman's reinstatement.
OpenAI is a Microsoft-backed startup that has made significant strides in artificial intelligence research. The company's trajectory has been nothing short of miraculous, and it is valued at over $80 billion according to a recent fundraising deal.
Jakub Pachocki, a key OpenAI researcher, will replace Ilya Sutskever as chief scientist at the company.