Two years ago, OpenAI talked about its mission in almost idealistic terms.
The company behind ChatGPT said it wanted to build artificial intelligence that would benefit humanity. It made it clear that profit wasn’t supposed to be the main driver. That message became part of its identity as AI suddenly entered the mainstream.
Since then, the company has grown up — and changed.
OpenAI shifted into a for-profit structure. It expanded quickly into enterprise partnerships. And now, it has quietly dissolved the internal team that focused on explaining and reinforcing its mission.
That group, called Mission Alignment, was formed in September 2024. It didn’t build products. It didn’t train models. Its job was more about direction — helping employees and the public understand what OpenAI meant when it talked about artificial general intelligence benefiting everyone.
The team is no longer operating.
In a brief statement, OpenAI said the group served as a support function and that its responsibilities would continue across other parts of the organisation. The company insists its mission remains the same.
Josh Achiam, who led the team, has taken on a new title: Chief Futurist.
In that role, he will look ahead — studying how advanced AI systems could reshape economies, governments, and daily life over time. He is expected to work alongside physicist Jason Pruet.
The Mission Alignment team isn’t the only group that has been wound down.
Over the past year, OpenAI has also dissolved its Superalignment team, which had been created to study long-term risks from powerful AI systems. That group lasted about a year before being replaced by a Safety and Security Committee led directly by CEO Sam Altman.
Not long after, the AGI Readiness team was also closed. That group had focused on how institutions might prepare for artificial general intelligence, if and when it becomes reality.
OpenAI has said that restructuring is common in fast-moving technology companies. Priorities shift. Teams evolve.
Still, the steady removal of groups tied to long-term risk and mission clarity comes at a moment when global conversations about AI safety are growing louder.
Meanwhile, OpenAI continues to expand commercially and deepen its industry partnerships.
The company says its founding purpose hasn’t changed.
Whether that purpose feels different as the organisation grows is something many observers will continue to watch.
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