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Where have OpenAI’s founders gone?

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Where have OpenAI’s founders gone?

Just two of OpenAI’s 11-strong founding team are still active at the ChatGPT maker, after an exodus following November’s attempted boardroom coup against chief executive Sam Altman.

Three co-founders have departed so far this year, including John Schulman, who defected to its artificial intelligence rival Anthropic this week. Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s president, also said on Monday he would be taking extended leave from the company.

A high rate of turnover is not unusual at a start-up. However, attrition of senior figures at OpenAI has stepped up in recent months following November’s leadership crisis, when Altman was fired by his board only to be reinstated days later.

Since then, the loss of executives and staffers working on AI safety and research has raised questions about the direction of the $86bn company, which is in a fierce battle to stay ahead of rivals including Google and Anthropic.

Some co-founders have absconded to rivals, others to launch their own AI companies, while the team’s most famous former member — Elon Musk — has become a vociferous critic of OpenAI in public and in the courts.

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OpenAI had a larger number of founders than most Silicon Valley start-ups because Altman and Brockman wanted to build an AI supergroup of the top researchers in the field when it got started in 2015. Here is where those 11 founders are now.

Leavers

Greg Brockman

on a leave of absence since August 2024

Brockman is a core member of OpenAI’s founding team. He was persuaded by Altman and Musk to leave his job as chief technology officer at financial technology company Stripe and take on the same position at OpenAI.

He has been a key Altman ally since the beginning. When the board moved against Altman in a coup in November, Brockman was also removed as a director. The two returned to their posts together when the board backtracked five days later.

On Monday, the company’s president announced he would be taking a sabbatical for the rest of the year.

“First time to relax since co-founding OpenAI 9 years ago,” he wrote on X. “I’ve poured my life for the past 9 years into OpenAI, including the entirety of my marriage. Our work is important to me, but so is life.”

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John Schulman

joined Anthropic in August 2024

Schulman, a research scientist who played a vital role in building the company’s ChatGPT chatbot, announced he would leave OpenAI on Monday. He was responsible for fine-tuning the company’s AI models and ensuring they behaved in a way that conformed to human values — a process known as alignment.

He will take up a similar role at rival start-up Anthropic, which itself was founded by ex-OpenAI researchers in 2021.

“This choice stems from my desire to deepen my focus on AI alignment, and to start a new chapter of my career where I can return to hands-on technical work, alongside people deeply engaged with the topics I’m most interested in,” Schulman said in a note to colleagues on Monday.

Ilya Sutskever

left to found Safe Superintelligence in May 2024

Sutskever left his position as OpenAI’s chief scientist six months after voting with the company’s board to remove Altman. Sutskever, one of the most prominent researchers in the field, reversed his position and backed the chief executive’s return a few days later.

Nonetheless, he has been largely absent from public view in the months since the abortive coup, and in May he left to start a company called Safe Superintelligence.

Andrej Karpathy

left to found Eureka Labs in February 2024

Karpathy, a research scientist who was advised at Stanford by “Godmother of AI” Fei-Fei Li, first left OpenAI in 2017 to join Tesla as a senior director. He returned to OpenAI in 2023 and left again a year later to launch Eureka Labs, which is building AI teaching assistants.‎

Durk Kingma

left for Google Brain in June 2018

Kingma, who worked on developing algorithms for generative AI models, left for Google in the summer of 2018. He has continued to lead research on large language models and image models at Google Brain, which merged with DeepMind last year.

Elon Musk

resigned from the board in 2018

Musk, who provided much of OpenAI’s early funding, left the company in 2018 after clashing with Altman over the direction of research. The billionaire launched a rival company, xAI, last year and claims he can overhaul OpenAI’s lead.

The Tesla, SpaceX and X chief has also launched a number of lawsuits against Altman and OpenAI, arguing this week that he was induced to invest in the AI company by its “fake humanitarian mission”.

Pamela Vagata

JOINED STRIPE in 2016

Vagata, listed as a founding member of OpenAI in the company’s launch announcement, makes no mention of the start-up in her LinkedIn profile. She joined Stripe as a technical leader in the fintech company’s AI team in 2016, and founded early-stage venture capital firm Pebblebed in 2021.

‎Vicki Cheung

JOINED LYFT in 2017

Cheung, who worked on language-learning app Duolingo before becoming OpenAI’s first engineer, left the company in 2017 to join ride-hailing start-up Lyft. In 2020 she founded machine learning start-up Gantry alongside former OpenAI researcher Josh Tobin.

Trevor Blackwell

left in 2017

Blackwell was a partner at Y Combinator, the San Francisco start-up accelerator that Altman ran before establishing OpenAI. He helped launch the AI company and left in 2017. A robotics enthusiast, he is now based in Gloucestershire, England.

‎Remainers

Sam Altman

Altman remains as OpenAI’s chief executive after surviving a boardroom coup in November, during which directors accused him of not being “consistently candid” with them. He was reinstated five days after being fired on the back of a campaign by employees and investors in OpenAI, including Microsoft.

The departure of other senior figures has left the 39-year-old as by far the most prominent figure at the company, and the reconstitution of the board after its failed ousting has further solidified his power.

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Wojciech Zaremba

Polish computer scientist Zaremba remains at OpenAI where he works as a researcher. He called on the board to resign after they moved against Altman, and has since urged his chief executive and Musk to drop their “unnecessary fight”.

“It would be so much better to put your creative energy into building the future you dream of over a quarrel. May you (both) be happy and find peace,” he wrote in a post on X in March, signing off with a love heart.

Additional reporting by Madhumita Murgia

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.

During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.

The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.

Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.

Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

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Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.

The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.

The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.

“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.

The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.

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On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.

During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.

Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM

Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26

Page 5 of 17

and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.

Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)

On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.

Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)

On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.

Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)

On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.

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The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

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Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

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“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

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“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.

Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.

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“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”

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