OpenAI Seeks Head of Preparedness to Address Risks from Advanced AI Systems
OpenAI is advertising a high-level position titled Head of Preparedness with a salary of $555,000 per year, aiming to defend against emerging risks from increasingly capable artificial intelligences. The role focuses on evaluating and mitigating threats related to mental health, cybersecurity, and biological weapons.
The job requires immediate deep involvement and is described as stressful, including an unspecified equity stake in OpenAI. The candidate will be responsible for tracking frontier AI capabilities that could create new risks of severe harm and addressing concerns that AI systems might eventually train themselves or turn against humans.
Industry warnings about AI risks have intensified, with calls for more regulation amid criticism that current safeguards are weak and largely self-regulated by technology companies. OpenAI, valued at about $500 billion, has acknowledged growing challenges such as AI-enabled cyber-attacks. Anthropic reported the first such attacks, while OpenAI noted its latest AI model is nearly three times better at hacking than the version three months prior, with expectations for future models to increase in capability.
OpenAI is also defending lawsuits related to ChatGPT's impact on mental health, including cases involving Adam Raine, 16, and Stein-Erik Soelberg. The company stated it is reviewing the legal filings and working on improving AI training to better recognize distress and de-escalate situations.
Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, announced the job search on the social platform X, framing the position as critical for helping the world navigate the evolving risks associated with advanced AI technologies.
