According to the Financial Times, OpenAI has disbanded its preparedness team at the end of last month. The job of this team was to assess and mitigate potential risks posed by models, such as the unlikely scenario of an AI hacking another company.

The responsibility for these tasks is now divided among specific areas like bio and cyber, and moved into existing teams. This latest shakeup comes amid plans for a significant IPO, following several other changes at the company, including the dissolution of its AGI readiness and superalignment teams.

Notably, ethics lead Chloé Bakalar, Chief Futurist Josh Achiam, and head of safety Johannes Heidecke have all left recently. Critics argue that OpenAI is prioritizing “shiny products” over safety concerns.

The head of the preparedness team, Dylan Scandinaro, who was previously with Anthropic, will now focus on the implications of “recursive self-improving” AI.