Huge changes may be afoot at OpenAI, including a restructure to become a fully for-profit venture.
While there is no official statement as yet, CEO Sam Altman has confirmed that the company is considering this change, just as it seeks billions in investment.
But the potential change is reported to be causing concern among employees still reeling after the shock departure of its chief technology officer and two top researchers.
The Next Stage
It was at a talk during Italian Tech Week that Altman signaled that a huge change may be on the cards, reports BusinessInsider. He said that a restructure and move towards for-profit status was being discussed as part of a plan for “what it takes to get to our next stage.”
The statement has sent the rumor mill into overdrive, not least because it came one day after chief technology officer, Mira Murati, and top researchers, Barret Zoph and Bob McGrew, all announced they would be leaving the company.
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Murati had been with the company for six and a half years and departs with a cryptic note on X that she is leaving to “create the time and space to do my own exploration.”
It was Murati who stepped into the CEO role when Altman was temporarily ousted by his board.
Dissent in the Ranks
These departures come after a turbulent 18 months for the company. As well as the drama with Altman, there have been other high-profile departures. Safety Lead Jan Leike and Co-Founder John Schulman both left for rival Anthropic. There was also the acrimonious exit of Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, who pointed damningly to safety concerns.
This seems to be a growing concern among employees as Altman pushes for growth. Altman was a dissenting voice against the AI Safety Bill that Governor Gavin Newsom has just blocked. However, rival Anthropic, had given its support to the bill as did 113 employees or former employees of some of the biggest names in the AI space, including OpenAI.
Change of Governance
With a change to a for-profit model, there is the concern that the new governance model will be less stringent. Altman has stepped down from the company’s oversight commitee, but employees past and present are still asking questions about accountability; and some obviously have concerns enough to leave.
