OpenAI has appointed Zico Kolter, a distinguished professor from Carnegie Mellon University, to its board of directors. Kolter, who leads the machine learning department at Carnegie Mellon, is renowned for his extensive research in AI safety, making him a vital asset to OpenAI’s governance team.

Kolter's appointment comes at a critical time as AI safety has become a prominent focus within OpenAI. His role will involve contributing to the Safety and Security Committee, which is responsible for overseeing safety protocols across all OpenAI projects. This committee includes notable figures such as Bret Taylor, Adam D’Angelo, Paul Nakasone, Nicole Seligman, and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman.

Kolter’s addition to the board follows recent departures of key OpenAI personnel, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever, from the “Superalignment” team, which was working on governance strategies for superintelligent AI systems. Despite these challenges, OpenAI continues to prioritize safety, with Kolter bringing crucial expertise to the board.

OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor stated, “Zico adds deep technical understanding and perspective in AI safety and robustness that will help us ensure general artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity.”

Kolter’s extensive experience includes a PhD in computer science from Stanford University, a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT, and roles as chief data scientist at C3.ai and chief expert at Bosch. He also serves as chief technical advisor at AI startup Gray Swan, where his research highlights the potential risks of automated optimization techniques in bypassing existing AI safeguards.