Jonathan Lachman, the former head of special projects at OpenAI, has joined a new artificial intelligence research lab founded by Mira Murati, a former OpenAI executive. This marks Murati’s most notable hire since her departure from OpenAI in September 2023 to focus on developing artificial general intelligence.
Mira Murati hires Jonathan Lachman for new AI lab
Murati’s startup has attracted approximately 10 researchers and engineers from competitors, including OpenAI, Character AI, and Google DeepMind. At this stage, the startup remains unnamed and lacks a definitive product direction, according to sources familiar with the company.
Murati’s exit from OpenAI occurred less than a year after CEO Sam Altman was abruptly dismissed by the board of directors in late 2023. Following this decision, the board briefly appointed Murati, then serving as chief technology officer, as interim CEO. Altman characterized Murati’s promotion as “the low point” of the ensuing leadership crisis, which nearly led to mass resignations from the company.
Mira Murati’s post-OpenAI move: New AI startup, $100M in the works
Murati and Altman maintained a collaborative working relationship after the turmoil, with Altman praising her handling of the chaotic situation during that critical period. When Murati left OpenAI 10 months later, she expressed gratitude towards Altman in her farewell letter, stating that she wanted to create time and space for her own exploration.
Approximately one month after her departure, Reuters reported that Murati was attempting to raise over $100 million to fund her new venture, although this figure had yet to be finalized. Other notable exits from OpenAI around the same time included Barret Zoph, the vice president of research, and Bob McGrew, the chief research officer. Ilya Sutskever, a cofounder and chief scientist of OpenAI, followed suit in May, founding a startup called Safe Superintelligence, which raised $1 billion within three months. Additionally, Anthropic, a significant competitor to OpenAI, was established by former OpenAI executives and has secured billions in funding, including $8 billion from Amazon.
Featured image credit: OpenAI
