**OpenAI CTO Mira Murati Resigns After Over Six Years**

Mira Murati, who has served as the CTO of OpenAI, announced her departure from the company in a tweet on Wednesday. After six years dedicated to advancing the company's AI initiatives, Murati revealed her decision to step down to embark on her own personal explorations. “After much reflection, I have made the difficult decision to leave OpenAI," Murati stated. "There's never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right."

An OpenAI spokesperson declined to provide further details, instead directing inquiries to Murati’s tweet. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also responded to her announcement, expressing his gratitude, “We’ll say more about the transition plans soon, but for now, I want to take a moment to just feel thanks,” Altman posted.

Murati’s resignation comes just a week before OpenAI's annual developer conference, DevDay. Her tenure included a brief stint as interim CEO last year after Altman was abruptly fired by OpenAI's previous board, a role she reportedly attained after expressing concerns about Altman's behavior along with other key figures like ex-chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.

Since joining OpenAI in 2018 as VP of applied AI and partnerships, Murati has played a pivotal role in developing groundbreaking AI technologies. Promoted to CTO in 2022, she oversaw projects including the popular AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, the text-to-image system DALL-E, and Codex, which supports GitHub's Copilot product.

Before her time at OpenAI, Murati accumulated a versatile background in the tech industry. With a degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College, her early career featured positions at Goldman Sachs and Zodiac Aerospace. She also spent three years at Tesla as a senior product manager for the Model X, where she contributed to the initial versions of Autopilot, Tesla’s AI-driven driver-assistance software. She later joined Leap Motion in 2016 as VP of product and engineering, where she aimed to revolutionize user interaction with computers through hand- and finger-tracking motion sensors.

Murati's resignation is part of a larger trend of high-profile departures from OpenAI in recent months. Previous exits include Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike in May, and co-founder John Schulman just last month, who left to join rival company Anthropic. Currently, OpenAI's president Greg Brockman is on extended leave.

This period of transition coincides with news that OpenAI is in the midst of securing a funding round, which could value the company at over $150 billion. Potential investors reportedly include Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, and Thrive Capital, with Bloomberg speculating the total investments could reach up to $6.5 billion.

This story is developing and further updates are anticipated.