OpenAI reasoning chief Jerry Tworek quits after 7 years: Here’s why

OpenAI’s research lead, Jerry Tworek, resigned after 7 years of being in the company to pursue greater research opportunities. The departure was confirmed via an X (formerly Twitter) post by Tworek. In the post, he highlighted that his research plans did not align with OpenAI’s current priorities and that the decision was emotionally difficult. He also acknowledged how the company has made history through its AI work, and it will continue to have a greater impact in the long run.

Jerry Tworek departs from OpenAI

Jerry Tworek joined OpenAI back in 2019 and contributed to scaling GPT models and building the technical foundations of Large Language Models (LLMs). In 2022, he became the Vice President of Research at the company, managing products like ChatGPT and the GPT-4 models. One of the most popular contributions of Tworek was the OpenAI o1 and o3 models, which achieved Ph.D.-level performance in physics, chemistry, and biology.

Furthermore, Tworek led the codex research, which resulted in becoming the foundation for GitHub Copilot, and he also contributed to the post-training of the GPT-4 model. Now, he is officially leaving OpenAI to pursue greater heights in the research segment. Tworek said, “I am leaving to try and explore types of research that are hard to do at OpenAl.” Now, this marks a major loss for OpenAI, given Tworek’s deep involvement in achieving AI systems and research milestones.

Tworek is yet to reveal his next move and destination as he grabs new opportunities. However, the time of departure creates speculation as several OpenAI researchers have recently left to join rivals. In addition, OpenAI may face challenges in keeping the research momentum amid intensifying competition.