Senior OpenAI staff have departed as the company redirects resources from long-term research to its ChatGPT product, according to a Financial Times report citing 10 current and former employees.
Vice President of Research Jerry Tworek, who led development of OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model, left in early January after nearly seven years. In an internal memo shared on X, he stated he was “leaving to try and explore types of research that are hard to do at OpenAI.”
Model Policy Researcher Andrea Vallone, who headed safety research on ChatGPT’s responses to users in mental-health distress, joined rival Anthropic. Economist Tom Cunningham departed in September 2025. In an internal farewell message, he cited a “growing tension between conducting rigorous analysis and serving as an informal promotional entity for OpenAI.”
Researchers on non-LLM projects faced denied or scaled-back funding requests. Teams behind Sora and DALL-E are under-resourced. Several non-language projects were wound down during a broader reorganization.
Chief Research Officer Mark Chen told the Financial Times that OpenAI remains committed to long-term foundational research. He added that combining research with real-world deployment “strengthens the company’s science by speeding up feedback, learning cycles, and rigor.” Following Tworek’s departure, Chen stated OpenAI is “very excited about our 2026 roadmap and advancing work toward an automated scientist.”
The shift follows a “code red” memo from CEO Sam Altman in December 2025. It called for improving ChatGPT amid acclaim for Google’s Gemini 3 and Anthropic’s growth with enterprise clients. ChatGPT has over 800 million weekly users, but OpenAI faces pressure to generate revenue justifying its valuation to investors.
The departures reflect OpenAI’s transition from a research laboratory to a product-driven technology company. The firm is preparing for a fourth-quarter IPO and expanding its finance team to outpace Anthropic.
Altman has said OpenAI can “dramatically” slow hiring while boosting output, as AI enables more work without rapid workforce growth. The company reported an annual revenue run-rate exceeding $20 billion in 2025.
