Durk Kingma Joins Anthropic: New AI Security Talent | ChatGPT OpenAI | ChatGPT login | OpenAI API | Turtles AI

Durk Kingma, among the lesser-known founders of OpenAI, has announced his joining Anthropic, an emerging AI company. Kingma, known for his instrumental contributions to basic generative AI research, will work primarily from the Netherlands. Anthropic, which has already acquired other leading figures in the AI field, continues to attract strategic talent.

Key points:

•  Durk Kingma, former co-founder of OpenAI, joins Anthropic.
•  Kingma has contributed to the development of AI technologies such as DALL-E and ChatGPT.
•  Kingma will work primarily remotely, based in the Netherlands.
•  Anthropic is distinguished by a more security-focused approach to AI.

Durk Kingma, one of the co-founders of OpenAI, announced today his decision to join Anthropic, one of the most dynamic startups in the AI industry. In a series of messages posted on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter), Kingma confirmed that he will carry out his new role working primarily remotely from his residence in the Netherlands, but without specifying what his exact assignment within the company will be. In response to requests for further details, Anthropic simply referred back to Kingma’s published posts. “Anthropic’s approach to responsible AI development is in line with my principles,” Kingma said, expressing his enthusiasm for the opportunity to collaborate with the company’s team, which also includes several of his former colleagues from OpenAI and Google. Kingma said he looks forward to contributing to Anthropic’s mission to develop powerful and secure AI systems for the future.

Kingma, who holds a PhD in machine learning from the University of Amsterdam, has a long career in AI. Prior to co-founding OpenAI, he worked as a research fellow at Google, where he contributed significantly to the development of advanced AI techniques. During his tenure at OpenAI, he devoted himself primarily to basic research, focusing on the development of algorithms for generative AI models. His major contributions include such impactful technologies as DALL-E, the AI-based image generator, and ChatGPT, one of the world’s best-known and most widely used large language models.

In 2018, Kingma left OpenAI to pursue a career as an investor and part-time consultant for AI tech startups. However, a few months later, in July of the same year, he returned to Google, joining the team at Google Brain, one of Google’s leading AI research labs. Google Brain, which set a benchmark for innovation in AI, was later merged with DeepMind in 2023, consolidating Google’s position in the field.

Kingma’s arrival represents a new market coup for Anthropic, which in recent months has seen the addition of other senior figures from OpenAI. In May, in fact, the company hired Jan Leike, former head of security at OpenAI, while in August it was the turn of John Schulman, another OpenAI co-founder. Another major talent acquisition was that of Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram and Artifact, who was named Anthropic’s first chief product officer.

Anthropic, founded by Dario Amodei, former vice president of research at OpenAI, has earned a reputation as a company highly focused on security in AI. Amodei left OpenAI following disagreements over the business direction taken by the company, taking a group of employees with him to found Anthropic. Among them was Jack Clark, former policy manager at OpenAI. Anthropic is distinguished by its more cautious and careful approach to the ethical and security implications of using advanced AI systems, positioning itself in contrast to OpenAI, which has placed increasing emphasis on the commercial application of its technologies.

Durk Kingma’s joining Anthropic is another sign of the company’s intention to attract and leverage top-notch talent to achieve its ambitious goals in the field of AI, and is a testament to the growing importance of security in the development of increasingly advanced systems.