OpenAI Safety Systems leader David Robinson stepped down last week, joining many senior officials who left the firm this year. Robinson previously led policy planning and worked on safety transparency. Regarding the company's rapid evolution, he said, "I do not know whether we are changing fast enough."
OpenAI Safety Systems leader David Robinson has stepped down, becoming the latest senior official to leave the AI company this year. While the reason for his departure remains unclear, his exit comes amid a series of high-profile departures from OpenAI.
Artificial intelligence (AI) company OpenAI is going through a troubled time. As the debate around the implications of the rapidly evolving technology gains momentum, David Robinson, OpenAI's Safety Systems team leader, has stepped down from his position, making him yet another name on the already high-profile list of officials who have left the company this year.
Citing a company spokesperson, Business Insider reported the development on Friday (local time), adding that Robinson left last week, marking an upheaval in the company's safety team. Robinson, who worked on safety transparency at the firm, including helping to develop and share system cards that give information regarding its models, had previously led OpenAI's policy planning.
While the exact reason for Robinson's departure remains unclear, he said in a social media post last month that people at OpenAI were beginning to recognise the implications of highly capable AI models, while also expressing some doubts. He added that things at OpenAI "are indeed changing significantly by the day, but I do not know whether we are changing fast enough."
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Before joining OpenAI, Robinson had a diverse career spanning several roles. According to his profile, he started as an intern at TIME Magazine, where he worked for three months between June and August in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he worked as an intern at The Wall Street Journal and later at The Wall Street Journal Asia. In 2006, Robinson became the managing editor at The American. Between September 2007 and September 2009, he worked as an associate director at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University.
In 2011, he served as a summer associate at Covington & Burling, following which, in 2012, he became a visiting fellow at Yale Law School for five years. Between 2017 and 2020, Robinson was an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center. From 2011 to 2020, he also served as managing director and co-founder of Upturn. Between 2018 and 2021, he was a visiting scientist at Cornell University. In 2022, he worked as a consultant at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has also been a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Between 2022 and 2023, he was a faculty director at Apple University. Robinson joined OpenAI in 2023 as its head of policy planning and was promoted to lead its Safety Systems team in 2024.