Who Is Mira Murati, the New ChatGPT CEO Replacing Sam Altman

In a shocking turn of events, ChatGPT’s parent firm OpenAI announced the ouster of billionaire Sam Altman from the company’s board, replacing him with Mira Murati. as the new CEO of ChatGPT.

Who Is Mira Murati? The New CEO of ChatGPT

Mira Murati, an engineer with an Albanian background and education from Dartmouth, known for contributing to the development of some of OpenAI’s prominent products in the role of Chief Technology Officer, will step in as the interim Chief Executive Officer for OpenAI.

Ms Murati holds prior experience in aerospace, automotive, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR). Following this, Ms. Murati joined Tesla, led by Elon Musk, as a senior product manager, making significant contributions to the development of the Model X.

Additionally, she has been involved with Leap Motion, a VR company, where her focus was on integrating artificial intelligence into practical, real-world applications. After this diverse experience, Murati joined OpenAI back in 2018.

Murati, who became a part of OpenAI in 2018, played a crucial role in guiding the development of ChatGPT and DALL-E. She assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) last year. In a statement on Friday, the company said:

“Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO”.

Mira Murati expressed feeling “honored and humbled” to take on the leadership role at the company after the departure of Sam Altman, as stated in a memo she sent to the staff, as reported by Bloomberg. In her memo she also added:

“We are now at a crucial juncture where our tools are being widely adopted, developers are actively building on our platforms, and policymakers are deliberating on the best ways to regulate these systems. This is welcome progress and an opportunity to participate in a future where AI is built and used for good.”

Rift Among OpenAI Board Members

As the new developments unfold, the rift among OpenAI board members is also coming wide into the open. Sam Altman’s close ally and OpenAI’s co-founder Greg Brockman announced his resignation soon after Altman’s ouster. Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder and the chief scientist, was the one to announce Altman’s ouster from the company.

Sam and I are shocked and saddened by what the board did today.

Let us first say thank you to all the incredible people who we have worked with at OpenAI, our customers, our investors, and all of those who have been reaching out.

We too are still trying to figure out exactly…

— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 18, 2023

In his departing note, Brockman wrote: “I’m super proud of what we’ve all built together since starting in my apartment 8 years ago. We’ve been through tough & great times together, accomplishing so much despite all the reasons it should have been impossible. But based on today’s news, I quit.”

Additionally, three senior researchers at OpenAI, namely Jakub Pachocki, Aleksander Madry, and Szymon Sidor, have reportedly stepped down from their positions.