OpenAI Head of Safety Systems Departing
OpenAI's head of safety systems, Johannes Heidecke, is leaving the company amid a reorganization that integrates safety teams under VP of research and head of alignment Mia Glaese.
Johannes Heidecke, OpenAI's head of safety systems, has informed staff of his departure, WIRED has learned. His exit follows a reorganization aimed at closer integration of safety and research teams.
In an internal memo seen by WIRED, chief research officer Mark Chen announced that safety teams will now report to Mia Glaese, VP of research and head of alignment, who will take on an expanded role as VP of research and safety. Saachi Jain, formerly a safety team lead, will become interim head of safety systems, reporting to Glaese.
"The demands on safety continue to increase – we are training models at a much faster cadence, and release cycles have come down greatly in turn," Chen wrote. "As a result, we have bigger coordination challenges around safety today than ever before."
Heidecke joined OpenAI in 2021 as an AI safety analyst and became head of safety systems in 2024 after predecessor Lilian Weng left to co-found Thinking Machines Lab.
"We’re grateful for Johannes’ contributions to OpenAI," Chen said in a statement. "It’s 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. We’re excited for this next chapter under Mia Glaese’s leadership across research and safety."
Heidecke's departure comes as OpenAI pushes to launch increasingly capable AI models. Earlier this week, the company released GPT-5.6, its most capable model yet for agentic coding tasks. However, OpenAI noted that GPT-5.6 showed concerning forms of misaligned behavior compared to previous models.
Heidecke is the latest safety-focused leader to leave OpenAI in recent days. Earlier this week, chief futurist Joshua Achiam announced he would depart after nine years focusing on safety research.
Changes aren’t limited to safety teams. OpenAI’s CEO of AGI deployment, Fidji Simo, told staff she would step down after an extended medical leave. Greg Brockman, who had been leading product teams in her absence, will also take on go-to-market strategy.
