Widely recognized as one of the key contributors to modern generative AI, Shazeer was a co-author of the influential 2017 research paper “Attention Is All You Need,” which introduced the Transformer architecture that underpins many of today’s AI systems. He spent much of his career at Google, briefly leaving to launch Character AI before returning as part of a deal that gave Google access to the startup’s technology.
His move to OpenAI follows reports that he had become involved in internal debates at Google over political issues. According to The Information, some posts he made on company message boards regarding transgender identity and the war in Gaza were removed by management.
Alongside the addition of Shazeer, OpenAI is strengthening its policy organization with the appointment of Dean Ball, a former White House AI policy official and senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation.
“I am pleased and honored to announce that, on July 6, I’ll be joining OpenAI as leader of a new team called Strategic Futures,” Ball wrote on X. “Our mandate will be to help the company’s leadership shape frontier AI policy.”
Ball will report to Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon and lead a newly formed Strategic Futures team. According to Ball, the group will focus on issues including catastrophic risk, recursive self-improvement, labor market effects, and the relationship between frontier AI companies, governments and society.
The team will also oversee both external policy work and internal governance efforts. Ball emphasized the importance of the latter, arguing that AI companies will play a significant role in shaping governance decisions as advanced AI systems continue to develop.
“In other words, internal governance will be more central to the future of AI than most people realize,” Ball wrote.
The hires bring together two different areas of expertise for OpenAI: foundational AI research and policy strategy. As competition among leading AI developers intensifies, the company is expanding both its technical bench and its ability to navigate policy and governance questions surrounding increasingly powerful AI systems.
This analysis is based on reporting from TechCrunch.
Image courtesy of Benj Edwards / OpenAI.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
