Lilian Weng Leaves Thinking Machines for OpenAI Citing Health Reasons
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-07-30
Lilian Weng is leaving her co-founder role at Thinking Machines Lab to return to OpenAI, citing unsustainable startup stress and health issues.
Weng noted that a scoped role in a more predictable environment suits her better. OpenAI announced she will lead a top-level group focused on accelerating research into recursive self-improvement. Her return brings deep institutional knowledge back to OpenAI. Meanwhile, Thinking Machines Lab faces a retention challenge, with only 2 of its 6 original co-founders remaining.
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