Artificial intelligence startup Thinking Machines Lab, founded by Albanian-American Mira Murati, is facing another departure at the top levels of management. Lilian Weng, one of the company’s co-founders, announced last week that she was leaving Thinking Machines, explaining that the responsibilities of the leadership role had affected her health and that she wanted to return to a position more focused on scientific research.
Just a few days later, according to The Information, Weng has returned to OpenAI, where he is expected to work on developing artificial intelligence systems that can improve future AI models themselves.
Her departure is the fourth among Thinking Machines Lab co-founders in a year, showing that even the most well-funded startups in the artificial intelligence industry are struggling to retain top talent. Thinking Machines’ case reflects the fierce competition among the largest AI companies, with top researchers constantly moving between OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, Google and new startups.
According to an analysis by Axios, sky-high salaries are no longer the only reason driving these moves. Researchers are also demanding more computing power, influence over the projects they develop, and freedom to pursue their research ideas.
“It’s partly about money and partly about ego to change the world,” one tech executive recruiter told Axios. The analysis highlights that AI labs are realizing that, while they can offer record salaries and vast resources, long-term retention of top researchers remains a challenge.