Now Mira Murati is among top leaders exiting OpenAI. Who is she?

Mira Murati, the Chief Technical Officer, who has spent six and a half years with Open AI, has announced her departure from the artificial intelligence startup.

Murati, who played a key role in OpenAI’s advancements, shared her decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter). She described the choice as a “difficult decision” made after “much reflection,” noting, “There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right.”

Murati is the latest addition to the growing list of high-profile executives who have announced their exit from the billion-dollar tech firm.

But who exactly is Mira Murati, and what prompted her to leave Open AI? What’s next for the AI company? Let’s take a closer look

About Mira Murati

Born and raised in Albania to Albanian parents, Murati moved to Canada to attend Pearson College UWC at 16.

She obtained a degree in Mathematics from Colby College and went ahead to pursue another graduation in mechanical engineering from the US’s Ivy League Dartmouth College. According to the New York Times, she constructed a hybrid race car as her final project while still a student.

Her professional journey began in 2011 as a summer intern at Goldman Sachs, followed by a stint at Zodiac Aerospace. She then worked on the Model X for Tesla for three years as a Senior Product Manager.

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According to Tech Crunch, Murati became the vice president of product and engineering at sensor startup Leap Motion in 2016. After working there for two years, she resigned from the company to become the vice president of partnerships and applied AI at Microsoft-led OpenAI.

“Both in my time at Tesla, and at a VR Company (Leap Motion) I was doing applications of AI in the real world. I very quickly believed that AGI would be the last and most important major technology that we built, and I wanted to be at the heart of it,” Murati told Wired in an interview in 2023.

In 2018, Murati started working on supercomputing as part of OpenAI. She was elevated to chief technology officer in 2022.

The 35-year-old former CTO of OpenAI has led product development of OpenAI’s groundbreaking products like the GPT-4o model and DALL-E.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a piece in Time Magazine that he believes Murati has “a demonstrated ability to assemble teams with technical expertise, commercial acumen and a deep appreciation for the importance of mission… As a result, she has helped build some of the most exciting AI technologies we’ve ever seen."

Following Open AI founder Sam Altman’s brief ouster last November, Murati led the AI firm as its interim CEO.

Why did Murati resign?

Mira Murati’s resignation from OpenAI surprised many, but in her post on X (formerly Twitter), she explained it was driven by a desire for personal exploration. Describing her time at OpenAI as “an extraordinary privilege,” Murati expressed gratitude for the individuals she worked with and thanked CEO Sam Altman for his “trust” in her.

“I’m stepping away because I want to create the time and space to do my own exploration. For now, my primary focus is doing everything in my power to ensure a smooth transition, maintaining the momentum we’ve built,” she wrote.

Murati also noted, “While I may no longer be in the trenches with you, I will still be rooting for you all. With deep gratitude for the friendships forged, the triumphs achieved, and most importantly, the challenges overcome together.”

I shared the following note with the OpenAI team today. pic.twitter.com/nsZ4khI06P

— Mira Murati (@miramurati) September 25, 2024

In response, Sam Altman paid tribute to Murati on X, acknowledging her vital contributions to the company. “It’s hard to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and to us all personally,” he said, expressing his immense gratitude for her role in shaping OpenAI’s success.

What’s next for Open AI?

Altman has announced the appointment of Mark Chen as Senior VP of Research and Josh Achiam as Head of Mission Alignment to ensure a smooth transition following Mira Murati’s departure.

According to Reuters, Murati’s exit coincides with OpenAI’s efforts to finalise a major $6.5 billion funding round, which could value the company at $150 billion. This deal reportedly involves restructuring OpenAI into a for-profit benefit corporation, granting CEO Sam Altman an equity stake.

It remains unclear whether Murati’s departure will affect the fundraising, as such agreements often include clauses allowing investors to reconsider terms in the event of significant leadership changes.

Murati’s exit is part of a wave of high-profile departures at OpenAI. On Wednesday, VP of Research Barret Zoph and Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew also announced their resignations on X.

In August, co-founder John Schulman revealed he had joined rival AI company Anthropic. Co-founder Greg Brockman also announced he would be taking a sabbatical until the end of the year, while Chief Scientist and co-founder Ilya Sutskever left the company in May after a boardroom dispute.

With Murati’s resignation, only two of OpenAI’s original 11 founders remain, raising further questions about the company’s leadership and future direction amidst these major changes.

With input from agencies