This week in AI, OpenAI lost another co-founder.
John Schulman, who played a pivotal role in the development of ChatGPT, OpenAI's AI-powered chatbot platform, has left the company for rival Anthropic. Schulman announced the news on X, saying that his decision stemmed from a desire to deepen his focus on AI alignment — the science of ensuring AI behaves as intended — and engage in more hands-on technical work.
But one can't help but wonder if the timing of Schulman's departure, which comes as OpenAI president Greg Brockman takes an extended leave through the end of the year, was opportunistic.
Earlier the same day Schulman announced his exit, OpenAI revealed that it plans to switch up the format of its DevDay event this year, opting for a series of on-the-road developer engagement sessions instead of a splashy one-day conference. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that OpenAI wouldn't announce a new model during DevDay, suggesting that work on a successor to the company's current flagship, GPT-4o, is progressing at a slow pace. (The delay of Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs could slow the pace further.)
Could OpenAI be in trouble? Did Schulman see the writing on the wall? Well, the outlook at Sam Altman's empire is undoubtedly gloomier than it was a year ago.
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