Another exit at OpenAI: VP of research for post-training leaves to start own AI firm

Liam Fedus, OpenAI’s vice president of research for post-training, is leaving the company. According to a report by The Information, Fedus plans to start a materials science AI startup.

He confirmed the news on X, sharing additional details, including his partnership with OpenAI.

He wrote, “I’ve gotten really excited about AI for science. My undergrad was in physics and I’m keen to apply this technology there. Because AI for science is one of the most strategically important areas to OpenAI and achieving ASI, OpenAI is planning to invest in and partner with my new company.”



The AI materials science field is still in its early stages, and Fedus' company will be competing with major players like Google DeepMind and Microsoft in this space.

In January, Microsoft launched two AI tools for discovering materials: MatterGen and MatterSim. MatterGen predicts materials with unique properties based on scientific principles, while MatterSim determines which of MatterGen’s materials are stable and viable.

In 2023, DeepMind announced that its AI system, Graph Networks for Materials Exploration (Gnome), discovered 2.2 million new crystals, including 380,000 stable materials that could be used to create new materials and "power future technologies."