OpenAI Faces Another Departure as Lead Safety Researcher Lilian Weng Announces Exit

In another significant shift at OpenAI, Lilian Weng, the company’s lead safety researcher and Vice President of Research and Safety, has announced her departure after seven years with the organization. Weng, who has been instrumental in developing OpenAI’s safety systems, shared her decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “After 7 years at OpenAI, I feel ready to reset and explore something new.” Her last day at the company will be November 15th, although she has not disclosed her future plans.

Weng expressed pride in the accomplishments of the Safety Systems team during her tenure, saying, “I made the extremely difficult decision to leave OpenAI. Looking at what we have achieved, I’m so proud of everyone on the Safety Systems team and I have extremely high confidence that the team will continue thriving.” Her exit adds to a growing list of departures from OpenAI, which has seen several safety researchers and executives leave amid concerns that the company is prioritizing commercial products over AI safety.

Weng’s departure follows that of prominent figures such as Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, who led OpenAI’s now-dissolved Superalignment team. This team was aimed at steering superintelligent AI systems, but since OpenAI shifted focus towards commercially viable AI models like GPT-4, Weng transitioned from her robotics work—where she contributed to a robot hand capable of solving a Rubik’s cube—to leading applied AI research and eventually forming a dedicated safety systems team in 2023. Today, this team comprises over 80 scientists, researchers, and policy experts.

Despite the growth of the safety team, concerns persist regarding OpenAI’s commitment to safety as it develops increasingly powerful AI technologies. Recently, another policy researcher, Miles Brundage, departed following the dissolution of OpenAI’s AGI readiness team. A profile in The New York Times highlighted former researcher Suchir Balaji, who left due to concerns that OpenAI’s technology might cause more harm than good for society.

In response to Weng’s departure, an OpenAI spokesperson expressed gratitude for her contributions to safety research and emphasized that the Safety Systems team will continue to play a vital role in ensuring the reliability and safety of their systems for users globally. “We deeply appreciate Lilian’s contributions to breakthrough safety research and building rigorous technical safeguards,” they stated.

Weng is not alone in her exit; other high-profile departures from OpenAI in recent months include CTO Mira Murati, Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, and Research VP Barret Zoph. In August, prominent researcher Andrej Karpathy and co-founder John Schulman also announced their exits. Some former employees have since joined competitors like Anthropic, while others are pursuing new ventures.