OpenAI has dissolved a team that was dedicated to making sure its AI systems are “safe, trustworthy, and consistently aligned with human values,” as the company put it. Meanwhile, the leader of that team has taken on a new position as the company’s “chief futurist.”
OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch that the members of the disbanded team have been reassigned to different roles within the company. This information was first reported by Platformer.
The team, which was established in September 2024, focused on alignment—an important area aimed at ensuring AI operates in line with human interests.
A post from OpenAI’s Alignment Research blog states, “We want these systems to consistently follow human intent in complex, real-world scenarios and adversarial conditions, avoid catastrophic behavior, and remain controllable, auditable, and aligned with human values.”
In a job listing for the Alignment team, OpenAI described its mission as developing methodologies that enable AI to accurately follow human intent across a variety of situations, including those that are adversarial or high-stakes.
In a blog post released Wednesday, Josh Achiam, the former head of the Alignment team, detailed his new role as chief futurist. “My goal is to support OpenAI’s mission—to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity—by studying how the world will change in response to AI, AGI, and beyond,” Achiam shared.
He also mentioned that he would be working alongside Jason Pruet, a physicist from OpenAI’s technical staff.
A spokesperson for OpenAI stated that the remaining members of the Alignment team—a group of six or seven—have been reassigned to different areas within the company. While the spokesperson couldn’t specify the exact new roles, they mentioned that the team members are involved in similar work in their new positions. It’s also unclear if Achiam will have a team under him in his “futurist” role.
The spokesperson explained that the disbanding of the team is part of the routine reorganizations commonly seen in a rapidly evolving company.
OpenAI previously had a “superalignment team,” formed in 2023 to study the long-term existential risks posed by AI, which was also disbanded in 2024.
Achiam’s personal website still lists him as head of Mission Alignment at OpenAI, with a focus on ensuring that the “long-term future of humanity is good.” His LinkedIn profile shows he has held the position of Head of Mission Alignment since September 2024.
