Overview
- CEO Mira Murati said the startup has parted ways with co-founder and CTO Barret Zoph and appointed Soumith Chintala to the top technical role.
- About 58 minutes after Murati’s post, OpenAI’s Fidji Simo announced that Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz are rejoining OpenAI, with Simo saying the moves had been in the works for weeks.
- Simo’s memo, reported by WIRED, said OpenAI does not share Thinking Machines’ concerns about Zoph and noted he told Murati on Monday he was considering leaving before being fired on Wednesday.
- Multiple outlets reported allegations that Zoph was dismissed for “unethical conduct,” including claims he shared confidential information with competitors, which have not been independently verified.
- The exits remove multiple co-founders from a heavily funded startup that raised a reported $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion valuation, as Chintala—best known as a PyTorch co-creator who joined in November—steps into the CTO role.