Mira Murati (born December 16, 1988, in Vlorë, Albania) is an engineer, researcher, and technology executive known for her work on artificial intelligence (AI). She previously served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of OpenAI, where she worked on revolutionary AI models such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and GPT-4.
Early Life and Education
Murati earned a scholarship to attend Pearson United World College of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada where she graduated at age 16 in 2005. She went on to study in the US, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Colby College in 2011 and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Dartmouth–Thayer School of Engineering in 2012.
Professional Journey
Murati started her career at Zodiac Aerospace as an intern, then joined Tesla in 2013 to manage the Model X as a product manager. After that she led the Augmented Reality tech company Leap Motion, holding roles such as Vice President of Product and Engineering (2016-18).
Tenure at OpenAI
Murati was originally vice president of Applied AI and Partnerships when she joined OpenAI in 2018 and was elevated to CTO in May 2022. As part of that role, she managed the research, product, and safety teams responsible for building AI models like ChatGPT, DALL-E, Codex, and Sora. She played a leading role in making progress on AI while also promoting ideas about ethical ways to develop AI.
Murati briefly held the position of CEO at OpenAI in November 2023, after the departure of former chief Sam Altman. Her reinstatement happened after Altman returned to the role of CEO. Murati was announced in September 2024 to leave OpenAI for (in her words) personal exploration after expressing gratitude about her time spent with the organization.
Awards and Recognition
Murata’s contributions have been widely recognized:
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised her knack for convening teams with technical savvy and mission respect in September 2023, explaining she built AI building blocks like ChatGPT, DALL-E, or GPT-4.
Last June 2024, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Dartmouth College for her work on democratizing technology and promoting a more secure world.
Fortune included her in The 100 Most Influential People in AI (2024), published September 2024.
Advocacy and Publications
Murati has spoken often about how to develop, and indeed regulate, AI responsibly. Speaking with Time magazine in February 2023, she reiterated the importance of bringing policymakers on board on AI regulation for ethical and safe use. Her writing has additionally appeared in scholarly contexts, including the Spring 2022 Dædalus (journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences) on “Language & Coding Creativity.”
Legacy
Mira Murati’s career demonstrates a responsibility to the future of AI technology. So leading OpenAI and being an advocate for ethical AI स all that directly touches the field in so many different ways, but it also inspires generations after to do similar things as engineers, musicians, or researchers.
Why Mira Murati Quit As Chief Technology Officer Of OpenAI
OpenAI chief technology officer (CTO) Mira Murati has announced that she has left the company, marking a major shake-up for leadership of the AI pioneer. Murati helped build groundbreaking generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Codex at OpenAI during the last six years of her career.
Murati posted a message on X (formerly Twitter), explaining that her time at OpenAI was “an incredible honor” and writing, “Leaving is not an easy decision.” “But the time feels right, and there’s never a good time to leave somewhere you love,” she wrote. “I am looking to carve out the time and space to explore on my own.
Murati was immediately praised on the X platform by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who welcomed her announcement and dedicated a few words of appreciation to her within the framework of further corporate development tasks. Altman wrote: “It is impossible to overstate how much Mira has meant to OpenAI, our mission, and all of us personally. I will be forever grateful to her for the way she built us and what we’ve achieved.
There’s no way to sugar-coat it: Murati’s exit is just one in a slew of prominent departures from OpenAI. Co-founder Greg Brockman has taken an indefinite leave of absence, and fellow co-founder John Schulman has moved to competitive AI sector rival Anthropic. A product team leader with an old Meta also left the company. Earlier this year, co-founder Ilya Sutskever left the company after a boardroom tussle at OpenAI. Now, only two of the original eleven founders at OpenAI remain.
These leadership transitions come on the heels of OpenAI’s latest new AI model, dubbed “Strawberry” that aims to improve reasoning capabilities in generative AI chatbots. The move is to fix the ‘hallucinations’, which means AI generated compelling but factually incorrect responses, thus resulting in the accuracy of AI.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 and has played a pivotal role in AI research and development with the mission of ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits humanity. Since then, the company has attracted a lot of buzz with its natural language processing and machine learning capabilities, not least through the widespread uptake of ChatGPT across many sectors.
Murati’s exit casts some uncertainty about the leadership of OpenAI and its current initiatives. OpenAI has repeatedly challenged its charter but this week marked another inflection point — one that will have scrutiny from all stakeholders and observers watching to see how the company continues to evolve while remaining focused on the important trajectory of creating AGI for humanity.
OpenAI says, in the meantime, Mark Chen will be its new Senior Vice President of Research, and Josh Achiam its Head of Mission Alignment to lead OpenAI’s research and development.
The exits like Muratis are stark reminders of the ever-dynamic nature of the field, and how important strategic direction is in turning those technologies into marketable products or services.
OpenAI Veteran Mira Murati Starts Fundraising for Her Startup
Mira Murati, who used to work as OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, is now readying a new venture and wants to found her own artificial intelligence (AI) startup. Murati reportedly raised more than $100 million in funding for her new company after leaving OpenAI in late September 2024.
Read Also: Who is Ilya Sutskever?
Context and Leaving OpenAI
Murati spent years at OpenAI involved in key initiatives like ChatGPT and DALL-E. That earned her a key role in negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal with Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor. Her exit came during a time of historic governance changes at OpenAI, including its move to a for-profit model and the various equity stakes allocated by the top team.
Announcing New Venture and Fundraising
Murati’s new firm plans to create AI products leveraging on models that the company owns, sources said. The large amount of capital being requested reflects the fact that training and running cutting-edge AI requires significant resources. Expecting Murati in this will be Barret Zoph (Senior Researcher) who also left OpenAI in the last week of September.
My AI Industry Implications
Murati’s decision comes after a series of other ex-OpenAI executives have started to create their own AI companies like Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence. Such movements reflect the fast-evolving AI landscape where seasoned executives want to capitalize on different possibilities and tackle new challenges.
Conclusion
The shift by Mira Murati from OpenAI to her own AI startup highlights the ongoing metamorphosis of the AI sector. Industry watchers and stakeholders alike will be keeping a close eye on her plans to fundraise aggressively and build proprietary A.I. models. With the ever-changing AI landscape, professionals such as Murati will contribute to the development of artificial intelligence.