In addition to Schulman's departure, OpenAI's product manager Peter Deng also quietly left the company some time ago while president Greg Brockman is taking an extended leave of absence, according to an Aug. 5 report from The Information.

In an Aug. 6 post to X, Schulman announced his departure from OpenAI after working there for nearly nine years, saying he'd made the "difficult decision" to move to Anthropic to focus on "AI alignment" and pursue more "hands-on technical" work.

"I've decided to pursue this goal at Anthropic, where I believe I can gain new perspectives and do research alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I'm most interested in," Schulman wrote on X.

Despite the whirling controversy around OpenAI's approach to AI safety, research, and regulation, Schulman clarified that he wasn't leaving the company due to a lack of personal or professional support.