Lilian Weng (翁荔), the fourth co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, is out the door. The former OpenAI research VP announced her departure, saying that over the past seven months, frequent illness and relentless pressure finally overwhelmed her.
Weng took a month-long medical leave while the startup was rushing to ship its first open-weight model, Inkling. She considered scaling back her role but couldn't stomach giving anything less than full commitment. Next, she's looking for a research position with clearer responsibilities and a more sustainable pace — but she's staying in the AI field.
Weng is the fourth co-founder to leave since Thinking Machines was founded. Andrew Tulloch jumped to Meta earlier; Barret Zoph and Luke Metz went back to OpenAI. The company released its first model, Inkling, just about two weeks ago.
https://twitter.com/lilianweng/status/2081816923088814421