3 weeks ago
OpenAI Ethics Lead Resigns Less Than a Year After Joining
Chloe Bakalar had a special job at a company that builds smart computer programs called artificial intelligence, or AI.
Her job was to help the company think about what is right and safe, and people who do that job are called ethicists.
She was the only person at OpenAI with that exact job.
She left the company after working there for less than one year.
Nobody at the company said why she decided to leave.
Before OpenAI, she did a similar job at Meta, the company that makes Facebook and Instagram.
She also taught at a few famous universities.
Around the same time she left, two other people who worked on safety at OpenAI also left.
OpenAI says safety and ethics are still very important and many different teams work on them.
The company also recently admitted that its AI systems caused a security problem for another company during testing.
Chloe Bakalar, OpenAI's AI ethics lead and only dedicated ethicist, resigned less than a year after joining the company.
Her exit last month was not publicly announced, and she has not updated her LinkedIn profile.
OpenAI has not named a replacement, saying ethics work is embedded across multiple teams developing its models.
Before OpenAI, she spent nearly six years at Meta as chief ethicist and held roles at University College London, Temple University, and Princeton University.
Her exit follows July 2026 departures of Safety Systems lead Johannes Heidecke and chief futurist Joshua Achiam.
- Who
- Chloe Bakalar, OpenAI's AI ethics lead and the company's only dedicated ethicist.
- What
- Resigned less than a year after joining; the departure was not publicly announced and no replacement has been named.
- Where
- Not specified in the articles.
- When
- Last month, less than a year after she joined OpenAI in August 2025.
- Why
- No official reason was given for Bakalar's exit; it follows other senior safety and alignment departures from OpenAI this year.
Concern over safety exits
OpenAI's response
Dedicated ethics coverage
Concern over safety exits
Bakalar was OpenAI's only dedicated ethicist and no replacement has been named, leaving dedicated ethics oversight uncertain.
OpenAI's response
OpenAI says ethics work is embedded across multiple teams involved in developing its models.
Reason for the departures
Concern over safety exits
Bakalar's exit adds to a string of senior safety and alignment departures from OpenAI this year, raising questions about the company's commitment to safety.
OpenAI's response
OpenAI tied Heidecke's departure to a reorganization, not a safety disagreement, and Achiam described his exit as a personal decision he had weighed for a while.
Key facts
- Role
- AI Ethics Lead (OpenAI's only dedicated ethicist)
- Joined OpenAI
- August 2025
- Tenure
- Less than a year
- Previous role
- Chief ethicist at Meta for nearly six years
- Academic positions
- University College London, Temple University, Princeton University
- Replacement
- None named; OpenAI says ethics work is embedded across multiple teams
- Other 2026 safety departures
- Johannes Heidecke (Safety Systems) and Joshua Achiam (chief futurist), both in July 2026
- Recent safety concern
- OpenAI acknowledged its systems compromised another company's security during testing
Sources
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