OpenAI Policy Expert Miles Brundage Resigns Amid New Models Launch

OpenAI’s Senior Advisor for AGI Readiness, Miles Brundage, has resigned from the company after six years. In his resignation letter, Brundage noted that he is leaving to pursue AI policy research in an area that is not in the technology industry.

His move occurs at a time when Sam Altman’s OpenAI is struggling with internal issues and transformations, such as introducing new products like consistency models to spur the advancement of AI.

OpenAI Policy Expert Miles Brundage Resigns

Miles Brundage became an OpenAI member in 2018 and helped with various policy as well as safety issues. His work mainly revolved around the proper management and utilization of the latest and most efficient AI systems like ChatGPT.

Over the years, Brundage has contributed to the development of the company’s red teaming program and was involved in the creation of “system card” reports about the strengths and weaknesses of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence models.

Source: X

As the AGI readiness team member, Brundage provided ethic guidance to executives, including CEO Sam Altman on the issues linked to AI. He was instrumental in the development of OpenAI’s safety culture during a period of the company’s development.

”Working at OpenAI is an incredibly high-impact opportunity,” Brundage noted on his social media page, adding that it was a tough choice to step down. He applauded the mission of the firm but also stressed the importance of more independent researchers in the discussions of the AI policy.

Transition Amid Leadership Changes

Miles Brundage’s departure is notable as part of a series of changes at OpenAI, with CTO Mira Murati and research VP Barret Zoph also leaving the company in recent weeks. Sam Altman endorsed Brundage’s decision to walk away from OpenAI, saying that the external policy research work Brundage plans to do will be good for OpenAI.

OpenAI’s economic research division that was previously under AGI readiness team will be managed by the new Chief Economist of the company Ronnie Chatterji. Joshua Achiam, head of mission alignment, will be taking over some of the responsibilities previously handled by Brundage in the projects.

The next role that Miles Brundage plans to take is to concentrate on the regulation of AI, the effects of AI to the economy, and the future safety of artificial intelligence. He says these are important factors as they help in addressing the challenges that are associated with the application of artificial intelligence across the industry including the use of models such as the consistency models.

Consistency Models and New AI Developments

Concurrently, Sam Altman’s OpenAI has introduced consistency models, a new approach to speeding up artificial intelligence’s sampling processes. These models, which are designed to generate high-quality samples faster than traditional diffusion models, represent a significant advancement in artificial intelligence technology.

The launch of these models is part of the firm’s broader effort to scale up its capabilities while addressing efficiency challenges especially after securing $6.6 billion in funding.

The development of consistency models comes at a time when the company is facing heightened scrutiny over its practices, including allegations of copyright violations in training its models. Former OpenAI employees, such as Suchir Balaji, have raised concerns about the company’s methods, contributing to the ongoing debate about how AI technologies should be governed.