OpenAI's Head of Safety Leaves as Part of Company Reorganization
Johannes Heidecke, OpenAI's head of safety systems, is leaving the company amid a major restructuring that merges research and safety teams under a single executive.
According to a report by Wired, Johannes Heidecke, OpenAI's head of safety systems, has announced his departure. Heidecke joined OpenAI in 2021, per his LinkedIn profile. Saachi Jain, who has previously led OpenAI's safety teams, will serve as interim head of safety systems. As part of the reorganization, safety teams will report to Mia Glaese, who becomes the new vice president of research and safety.
OpenAI's chief research officer, Mark Chen, stated that it is "important that our safety work is integrated with frontier-model development, with an earlier and more direct role in shaping key model, product and launch decisions." The staff changes follow the release of OpenAI's latest model, GPT-5.6, which was recently approved by the U.S. government.
The company still has a Head of Preparedness, hired earlier this year to "prepare for and mitigate severe risks," as noted by CEO Sam Altman on X.
