John Schulman, a co-founder of OpenAI, has stepped down from his role at Anthropic, the AI startup confirmed on Wednesday. Schulman had joined Anthropic last year after leaving OpenAI in August, aiming to focus on AI alignment and return to hands-on technical work. Anthropic's chief science officer, Jared Kaplan, expressed regret over his departure but wished him well in his future endeavours.

Anthropic has grown into a key competitor in the AI foundation model space, with annualised revenue reaching approximately$875 million. The company provides access to its AI models both directly and through third-party cloud services such as Amazon Web Services. Schulman's departure was first reported by The Information.

The move marks another shift in the AI industry as competition intensifies among leading companies. OpenAI, Anthropic, and other key players continue to race towards advancing AI capabilities while addressing concerns around safety and alignment.