Jan Leike (born 1986 or 1987)[1] is an AI alignment researcher who has worked at DeepMind and OpenAI. He joined Anthropic in May 2024.
Education
editJan Leike obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Freiburg in Germany. After earning a master's degree in computer science, he pursued a PhD in machine learning at the Australian National University under the supervision of Marcus Hutter.[2]
Career
editLeike made a six-month postdoctoral fellowship at the Future of Humanity Institute before joining DeepMind to focus on empirical AI safety research,[2] where he collaborated with Shane Legg.[1]
OpenAI
editIn 2021, Leike joined OpenAI.[1] In June 2023, he and Ilya Sutskever became the co-leaders of the newly introduced "superalignment" project, which aimed to determine how to align future artificial superintelligences within four years to ensure their safety. This project involved automating AI alignment research using relatively advanced AI systems. At the time, Sutskever was OpenAI's Chief Scientist, and Leike was the Head of Alignment.[3][1] Leike was featured in the 2023 Time 100/AI, a list of the 100 most influential personalities in artificial intelligence.[1] In May 2024, Leike announced his resignation from OpenAI, following the departure of Ilya Sutskever, Daniel Kokotajlo and several other AI safety employees from the company. Leike wrote that "Over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products", and that he "gradually lost trust" in OpenAI's leadership.[4][5][6]
In May 2024, Leike joined Anthropic, an AI company founded by former OpenAI employees.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "TIME100 AI 2023: Jan Leike". Time. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ a b "An AI safety researcher on how to become an AI safety researcher". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ Leike, Jan; Sutskever, Ilya (5 July 2023). "Introducing Superalignment". OpenAI.
- ^ Samuel, Sigal (17 May 2024). ""I lost trust": Why the OpenAI team in charge of safeguarding humanity imploded". Vox. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Bastian, Matthias (18 May 2024). "OpenAI's AI safety teams lost at least seven researchers in recent months". the decoder. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Milmo, Dan (18 May 2024). "OpenAI putting 'shiny products' above safety, says departing researcher". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "OpenAI researcher who resigned over safety concerns joins Anthropic". 28 May 2024.