OpenAI's chief technology officer, Mira Murati, leaves the company "abruptly"

Open AI's chief technology officer (CTO), Mira Murati, announced Wednesday that she is leaving the company after six and a half years to have "time and space" for projects of her own. She joins a string of senior managers who left the company, most recently Bob McGrew, director of research, and Barret Zoph, vice president of post-training.

"Mira, Bob, and Barret made these decisions independently of each other and amicably," wrote Sam Altman, CEO of the tech company. After thanking the three and noting that "being a leader at OpenAI is all-consuming," he acknowledged that Murati's step aside had been "abrupt" (he was told the same morning of the public announcement) but said the reasons explained by the CTO seemed to "make sense" to him.

Altman also maintained that he had spent most of his time over the past year engaged in "non-technical parts of our organization," including, although he did not go into detail, a five-day hiatus when he was fired and rehired (during which time Murati briefly assumed leadership of the company). Now, he assured, he would devote "most" of his efforts to "technical and product parts of the company."

The entrepreneur and programmer announced replacements to make up for the departures, clarifying the company's structure. Six managers, he explained, who would "will report to me."

Rumors and changes

The changes come after a turbulent few months at the top of the board but of growth at the corporate level, both in the hiring of employees (it would have doubled in size in nine months) and in the announcement of new projects.

Of the 13 people who founded the tech company nine years ago, only three remain, according to a count by The New York Times. One of the latter, Greg Brockman, took a leave of absence until the end of the year.

The leadership exodus coincides with reports that the board is analyzing plans to change its structure from a primarily nonprofit to a for-profit, without completely dismantling its nonprofit organization and giving some stock shares to Altman.

That possible mission change generated controversy a few months ago when Elon Musk denounced OpenAI for effectively abandoning its purpose of working for the "benefit of humanity," adopted by its founders in 2015. Several former employees of the company also expressed similar concerns, noting that the company had "succumbed" to "very, very strong incentives to maximize profit."