OpenAI reorganizes research team behind ChatGPT’s personality

OpenAI is reorganizing its Mannequin Habits workforce, a small however influential group of researchers who form how the corporate’s AI fashions work together with individuals, TechCrunch has discovered.

In an August memo to employees seen by TechCrunch, OpenAI’s chief analysis officer Mark Chen mentioned the Mannequin Habits workforce — which consists of roughly 14 researchers — can be becoming a member of the Submit Coaching workforce, a bigger analysis group answerable for enhancing the corporate’s AI fashions after their preliminary pre-training.

As a part of the adjustments, the Mannequin Habits workforce will now report back to OpenAI’s Submit Coaching lead Max Schwarzer. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed these adjustments to TechCrunch.

The Mannequin Habits workforce’s founding chief, Joanne Jang, can also be shifting on to begin a brand new undertaking on the firm. In an interview with TechCrunch, Jang says she’s constructing out a brand new analysis workforce known as OAI Labs, which can be answerable for “inventing and prototyping new interfaces for a way individuals collaborate with AI.”

The Mannequin Habits workforce has grow to be one in every of OpenAI’s key analysis teams, answerable for shaping the character of the corporate’s AI fashions and for decreasing sycophancy — which happens when AI fashions merely agree with and reinforce consumer beliefs, even unhealthy ones, reasonably than providing balanced responses. The workforce has additionally labored on navigating political bias in mannequin responses and helped OpenAI outline its stance on AI consciousness.

Within the memo to employees, Chen mentioned that now’s the time to deliver the work of OpenAI’s Mannequin Habits workforce nearer to core mannequin improvement. By doing so, the corporate is signaling that the “character” of its AI is now thought of a crucial think about how the expertise evolves.

In current months, OpenAI has confronted elevated scrutiny over the habits of its AI fashions. Customers strongly objected to character adjustments made to GPT-5, which the corporate mentioned exhibited decrease charges of sycophancy however appeared colder to some customers. This led OpenAI to revive entry to a few of its legacy fashions, equivalent to GPT-4o, and to launch an replace to make the newer GPT-5 responses really feel “hotter and friendlier” with out growing sycophancy.

OpenAI and all AI mannequin builders need to stroll a nice line to make their AI chatbots pleasant to speak to however not sycophantic. In August, the dad and mom of a 16-year-old boy sued OpenAI over ChatGPT’s alleged function of their son’s suicide. The boy, Adam Raine, confided a few of his suicidal ideas and plans to ChatGPT (particularly a model powered by GPT-4o), based on courtroom paperwork, within the months main as much as his loss of life. The lawsuit alleges that GPT-4o did not push again on his suicidal ideations.

The Mannequin Habits workforce has labored on each OpenAI mannequin since GPT-4, together with GPT-4o, GPT-4.5, and GPT-5. Earlier than beginning the unit, Jang beforehand labored on tasks equivalent to Dall-E 2, OpenAI’s early image-generation software.

Jang introduced in a publish on X final week that she’s leaving the workforce to “start one thing new at OpenAI.” The previous head of Mannequin Habits has been with OpenAI for almost 4 years.

Jang instructed TechCrunch she’s going to function the final supervisor of OAI Labs, which can report back to Chen for now. Nevertheless, it’s early days, and it’s not clear but what these novel interfaces can be, she mentioned.

“I’m actually excited to discover patterns that transfer us past the chat paradigm, which is at present related extra with companionship, and even brokers, the place there’s an emphasis on autonomy,” mentioned Jang. “I’ve been pondering of [AI systems] as devices for pondering, making, taking part in, doing, studying, and connecting.”

When requested whether or not OAI Labs will collaborate on these novel interfaces with former Apple design chief Jony Ive — who’s now working with OpenAI on a household of AI {hardware} units — Jang mentioned she’s open to plenty of concepts. Nevertheless, she mentioned she’ll seemingly begin with analysis areas she’s extra conversant in.

This story was up to date to incorporate a hyperlink to Jang’s publish saying her new place, which was launched after this story revealed. We additionally make clear the fashions that OpenAI’s Mannequin Habits workforce labored on.