OpenAI's only ethicist left last month and wasn't replaced; the company says ethics is now embedded in model development

OpenAI's Only Ethicist Reportedly Left Last Month

OpenAI's head ethicist Chloé Bakalar left in July after less than a year, per the Financial Times. She was the company's only dedicated ethicist and wasn't replaced. OpenAI told Gizmodo that ethics is now embedded across research teams rather than owned by one person. That claim lands differently when you note that safety heads Johannes Heidecke and Joshua Achiam also left this summer. Bakalar previously stressed that LLMs are prediction machines far from sentience; Altman said last month 'we are now in the singularity.'

Why it matters: OpenAI's sole ethicist leaving without replacement is a signal for AI safety watchers. Score isn't higher because of clear info gaps: no reason for the exit, no internal reaction, just OpenAI's line that ethics is 'embedded across teams.'