OpenAI Safety Head Heidecke Departs; Glaese Named VP
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- Johannes Heidecke, OpenAI's head of safety, is leaving the company, with his exit tied to OpenAI's push to further integrate its research and safety teams into a single unit.
- Mia Glaese will become VP of research and safety, assuming oversight of both functions as OpenAI consolidates them under one leader.
Why it matters: OpenAI is absorbing its standalone safety function into its research organization under a single VP, eliminating the structural separation between the team that builds models and the team meant to scrutinize them. The safety lead is exiting rather than overseeing the merged unit, so the person previously responsible for independent safety review is being replaced by combined leadership.
