Lilian Weng Rejoins OpenAI to Lead Research Acceleration After Leaving Thinking Machines Over Health
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 29
Lilian Weng Rejoins OpenAI to Lead Research Acceleration After Leaving Thinking Machines Over Health
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Jul 29
Summary
OpenAI said Wednesday that Lilian Weng is returning to lead a top-level team tasked with accelerating the company’s internal research.
Weng had announced earlier this week that she was stepping down as a co-founder of Thinking Machines, saying startup stress and workload had pushed her health beyond what she could physically sustain.
The new team will support cross-research work on recursive self-improvement, an approach aimed at letting AI systems iterate on themselves to become more powerful.
The move stands out because Weng had just exited a fast-paced startup, though her role at OpenAI is likely to carry less direct pressure than being a co-founder.
Her return also underscores the fierce competition for senior AI talent, with the high-profile shift linking OpenAI back to a former VP of AI Safety Research.