John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI and one of the innovators behind ChatGPT, has left Anthropic just five months after joining the company.
His departure comes less than a year after he left OpenAI to focus on AI alignment and more technical work.
Schulman, who was highly involved in OpenAI’s research for nearly a decade, made the switch to Anthropic in August last year, noting a desire to work alongside researchers deeply invested in AI safety. At the time, he stated, “[At Anthropic], I believe I can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I’m most interested in.”
Anthropic, a growing competitor in the AI industry, was founded by former OpenAI employees, including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei. The company has become an advocate for AI safety and is behind Claude, a language model competing with ChatGPT.
Schulman has not made any public statements about his departure from Anthropic or his next move. However, Anthropic’s chief science officer, Jared Kaplan, confirmed the exit, saying, “We are sad to see John go but fully support his decision to pursue new opportunities and wish him all the very best.”
His exit adds to the list of high-profile departures from OpenAI and Anthropic in recent months, pointing to the current changes within the AI research community.
