As OpenAI announced the sacking of its CEO Sam Altman on Friday, Mira Murati took over as the interim CEO of the company that made the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT.
Murati (35) is considered one of the “brains” behind ChatGPT as she was one of the key people involved in its creation. After joining OpenAI in 2018 as the Vice President of its AI and partnerships, she was promoted to Senior Vice President of research, product and partnerships in 2020. She took over as OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2022.
According to the company, Murati has played a “critical role” in the growth of OpenAI from a small startup to an artificial intelligence trailblazer.
In an official statement released on Friday, OpenAI said Murati “brings a unique skill set, understanding of the company’s values, operations, and business, and already leads the company’s research, product, and safety functions”.
“Given her long tenure and close engagement with all aspects of the company, including her experience in AI governance and policy, the board believes she is uniquely qualified for the role and anticipates a seamless transition while it conducts a formal search for a permanent CEO,” the statement added.
From Albania to Silicon Valley
Born in 1988 in Albania, Murati has been instrumental in shaping the trajectory of OpenAI since she joined the company. Her journey from Albania — where she grew up during a seismic shift from an oppressive communist regime to a democracy — to the pinnacle of Silicon Valley’s AI innovation is remarkable.
After leaving Albania on a scholarship at the age of 16 to attend school in Canada’s Vancouver, Murati pursued an engineering degree at Dartmouth College. She thereafter embarked on a career that also saw her play a pivotal role in Tesla’s Model X development, among other achievements.
As the CTO at OpenAI, Murati has led the teams responsible for DALL-E, an AI capable of generating art from textual prompts, as well as ChatGPT, the AI chatbot known for its humanlike responses to complex queries.
Murati’s ascent to interim CEO comes at a critical juncture for OpenAI — the company renowned for its groundbreaking artificial intelligence research and development through ChatGPT. With ChatGPT changing the global narrative of artificial intelligence, the company is reportedly on track to generate over $1 billion in revenue this year — a significant leap from the previous year’s $30 million.
Under her leadership, ChatGPT became a cultural phenomenon, amassing over 100 million monthly active users within two months of its launch in November 2022, marking it as the fastest-growing consumer application in history.
ChatGPT is Murati’s ‘child’
Murati endearingly referred to ChatGPT as her “child” during an interview with Time Magazine, even as she also voiced concerns about the dangers that artificial intelligence can pose.
“This is a pivotal juncture wherein we possess the capacity to influence how it moulds the society. The interaction is bidirectional: the technology influences us, and reciprocally, we shape the technology,” she said.
She posed critical inquiries about directing the model to fulfill intended tasks and ensuring its alignment with human objectives, ultimately serving humanity’s interests.
“There are also a ton of questions around societal impact, and there are a lot of ethical and philosophical questions that we need to consider,” she added. “And it’s important that we bring in different voices, like philosophers, social scientists, artists, and people from the humanities.”
Murati also advocated for the early engagement of regulatory entities such as Congress in the artificial intelligence sector. “It is not premature,” she asserted. “It is of paramount importance for all stakeholders to commence their involvement, considering the profound impact these technologies are poised to exert.”
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft and a principal investor in OpenAI, praised Murati in a Time profile. He lauded her commitment to making AI accessible to a broader audience, her prowess in uniting multifaceted teams and her intrepid approach to tackling technical challenges.
“Through her dedication to democratising AI, her ability to bring together diverse teams, and the fearlessness with which she tackles technical challenges, Mira has helped to scale the company from a startup to one of the most important AI companies in the world,” Nadella said.
As the world watches, Murati’s tenure as interim CEO will be defined by how she navigates the challenges of leading a company that has become synonymous with cutting-edge AI while maintaining a steadfast commitment to ethical principles.