Barret Zoph is out at Open AI again after just five months | The Verge

Overview

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech

Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews

Details

Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science

Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment

Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy

Gadgets Expand Laptops Phones TVs Headphones Speakers Wearables See all gadgets

Verge Shopping Expand Buying Guides Deals Gift Guides See all shopping

Streaming Expand Disney HBONetflix You Tube Creators See all streaming

Transportation Expand Electric Cars Autonomous Cars Ride-sharing Scooters See all transportation

AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Open AIClose Open AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Open AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Barret Zoph is out at Open AI again after just five months

He rejoined the company in January after a stint as co-founder of Mira Murati’s competitor, Thinking Machines Lab.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Open AIClose Open AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Open AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Barret Zoph is out at Open AI again after just five months

He rejoined the company in January after a stint as co-founder of Mira Murati’s competitor, Thinking Machines Lab.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Five months after returning to Open AI, Barret Zoph — the company’s head of enterprise AI sales — has departed, The Verge has learned.

Zoph returned to Open AI in mid-January after a stint as co-founder and CTO of Thinking Machines Lab, the competing AI company founded by former Open AI CTO Mira Murati. Shortly after Zoph returned to Open AI, the company said he would lead its push into enterprise — a significant role at Open AI, since in recent months it had vowed to stop chasing so-called “side quests” and focus on key revenue drivers like enterprise and coding ahead of its planned IPO.

Open AI confirmed to The Verge that Zoph will be departing. He posted a goodbye message in the company’s Slack channels. Zoph did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Are you a current or former Open AI employee? Contact me via Signal at haydenfield.11 on a non-work device with tips.

Zoph originally left Open AI in the fall of 2024 for Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, but departed the role abruptly in January 2026 after reports of alleged misconduct involving an undisclosed relationship with a colleague. Murati posted on X in January that Thinking Machines Lab had “parted ways” with Zoph and that he would be replaced as CTO.

Thinking Machines Lab has its own tensions with Open AI. Murati briefly took over as CEO from Open AI CEO Sam Altman during his November 2023 ouster, and during the recent Open AI trial, Murati testified that she couldn’t trust everything Altman said. In September 2024, when Murati left Open AI to start Thinking Machines Lab, a group of Open AI employees followed shortly after. But three of them — including Zoph — all returned to Open AI together this past January. Fidji Simo, Open AI’s CEO of Applications, wrote on X at the time that she was “excited to welcome Barret Zoph, Luke Metz, and Sam Schoenholz back” and that the decision had “been in the works for several weeks.”

Hayden Field Close Hayden Field Senior AI Reporter Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Hayden Field

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Open AIClose Open AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Open AI

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Report Close Report Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Report

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Midjourney goes from generating cat images to full-body ultrasound scans

Apple’s weird anti-nausea dots cured my car sickness

Tim Cook says RAM expenses are ‘unsustainable’ and Apple is going to raise prices

This Ghost in the Shell keyboard makes me want to activate the hundred spidery robot fingers inside my regular fingers

Amazon employees say they’re facing termination for backing data center limits

Key Takeaways

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy