Suddenly all attention turns to her. Mira Murati (34) was the head of technology at the super start-up OpenAI until Friday. She led the development teams behind ChatGPT and the imaging software Dalle-E, also developed by OpenAI. Internally, she had long been a central figure in the unusual company. From the outside, however, things remained quiet about Murati for a long time. Until this Friday.
Surprisingly, the company’s board of directors kicked out the previous CEO Sam Altman (38) with immediate effect. because he was “not consistently honest” in his communication with the committee. As a result, formal number two, Chairman Greg Brockman (35), who was initially relieved of his role, also left. Murati will now temporarily take over as CEO.
On Friday, she faced the partly shocked workforce in a hastily called all-hands meeting. According to participants, she was trying to calm people down. The partnership with main financier Microsoft is not in danger and their board members, including Microsoft boss Satya Nadella (56), would continue to have confidence in the start-up. At the same time, a Microsoft spokesman said that the large corporation remained “committed to Mira and her team.”
So who is the woman who has to stabilize OpenAI first?
Mira Murati is not pushing for the big stages; she had previously left that to her CEO Altman. She usually leaves interview requests unanswered, including several requests from manager magazine in recent months. The consequence of the silence is that myths are already growing around them.
In one Video
In a recording of a symposium at the US University of Colorado Boulder in 2021, which documents one of her rare public appearances, the head of technology says that she spent her childhood and youth in Albania. “I first became interested in artificial intelligence when I was playing video games as a child. I thought about whether or not the characters had any kind of logical thinking,” Murati said there. She was fascinated by abstract and complex ideas from an early age; she was interested in mathematics even as a child. “There weren’t many opportunities to put theory into practice, so I focused more on theoretical math until college.”
In her rare appearances, Murati even dares to self-criticize her work. She is also a good speaker, appears competent, approachable, and formulates her sentences in such a way that even people without in-depth technical knowledge have a chance to understand the background of ChatGPT. But it’s obviously important to her to control information about herself. Even for her own know-it-all software ChatGPT, she was an unknown for a long time: “Mira Murati is not a well-known personality in the OpenAI organization,” it was said this spring.
Murati discovered her passion for AI at Tesla
According to her LinkedIn profile
Murati studied bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the prestigious Dartmouth College in the United States. After graduating, she worked as an engineer at aircraft supplier Zodiac and then discovered the electric car manufacturer Tesla as a senior product manager, her passion: There she was responsible for the development and launch of Tesla’s electric SUV Model X for Elon Musk (52).
Through autonomous driving, Murati also came into professional contact with artificial intelligence. After three years at the electric car manufacturer and two subsequent years at the virtual reality start-up Leap Motion, now Ultraleap, Murati decided to join OpenAI in 2018 – to focus more on “general” artificial intelligence, as she says.
When Murati started at OpenAI in 2018, the company was still designed as a nonprofit organization with a mission to “ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.” In 2019, the move away from the purely non-profit model followed.
Murati enjoyed a distinguished career at OpenAI. She started as vice president of applied artificial intelligence and partnerships and rose to senior vice president of research, products and partnerships. She has been responsible for OpenAI’s technology since May 2022 – and still doesn’t remain silent about her doubts about her creation.
“We didn’t expect this excitement when we brought our ‘child’ into the world. In fact, we were a little afraid to publish it,” she told Time magazine in February. In the interview she also discussed that the chatbot makes up facts.
Open to regulation of AI applications
In an appearance on the US talk show “The Daily Show
” At the end of 2022, we will learn a lot about Murati’s understanding of the products that she herself helps to design. This is how she describes AI-supported applications as helpers for people: “We see them as tools, as an extension of our creativity.”
They are also concerned about the social consequences of the AI boom. Especially because the technology she developed could lead to job losses. Murati: “As in all revolutions we have gone through, there will be new jobs and others will be lost (….) But I am optimistic.”
more on the subject
Remarkable is her answer to a question from Time Magazine, which wanted to know how to ensure that AI applications are not misused and are in line with human values. They should act “ultimately in the service of humanity,” Murati said, and expressed an openness to involving policymakers and other regulators in the process. When asked if it wasn’t too early to get politicians involved, she replied: “It’s not too early. It’s very important for everyone to get involved, considering the impact these technologies will have. “
These are precisely the questions she will have to address in her new role as CEO. “She brings unique skills and an understanding of the company’s values, operations and business,” the OpenAI board of directors said in a statement about her appointment. Particularly because of her experience in security and governance, the board believes “that she is ideally qualified for this task.”
Murati’s main task now is to stabilize the company and ensure a seamless transition. The formal search for a permanent solution to the CEO position is ongoing. But a better solution must first be found. Until then, everyone looks up to Mira Murati, the woman at the head of the most powerful machine in the world.