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Founders of thinking machines The maker of ChatGPT announced on Thursday that Barrett Zoff and Luke Metz are leaving the startup AI Lab and returning to OpenAI. Fidji Simo, chief applications officer at OpenAI, shared the news in a memo to employees Thursday afternoon.
The news was first reported on X by technology reporter Kylie Robison, who wrote that Zoph was fired for “unethical behavior.”
A source close to Thinking Machines said Zoph shared confidential company information with competitors. WIRED was unable to verify this information with Zoph, who did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
Zoff told Thinking Machines CEO Mira Moratti on Monday that he was considering leaving, then was fired today, according to Simo’s memo. She goes on to write that OpenAI does not share the same concerns about Zoph as Moratti.
The personnel change is a big win for OpenAI, which recently lost its vice president of research, Jerry Turek.
Another Thinking Machines Lab employee, Sam Schoenholz, will rejoin OpenAI, the source said.
Zoph and Metz left OpenAI in late 2024 to start Thinking Machines with Murati, who had been CTO at ChatGPT.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.