OpenAI Chief Futurist Joshua Achiam to Depart After Nearly Nine Years

Joshua Achiam, who serves as Chief Futurist at OpenAI, is leaving the company after roughly nine years. According to Wired, Achiam notified the company internally around July 7, 2026, with his final day set for July 24. Having joined as an intern in 2017, he built his career as an AI safety researcher. He said there was no specific reason for the departure and that it was something he had been considering for some time. Now that the potential of AGI is widely understood around the world, he said, he feels he can contribute to the mission from outside a frontier lab as well. He did not specify his next role or offer any criticism of the company.