OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman and executive team have begun a search for a senior safety leader, described as Head of Preparedness, whose role will focus on evaluating and managing safety risks associated with frontier AI technologies. The position, based in San Francisco, comes with a compensation package reported to reach around $555,000 a year with equity incentives. inkl
The company posted the role publicly and framed it as critical to its mission, saying the successful candidate will engage immediately with complex safety challenges ranging from misuse to cybersecurity threats, mental health impacts and the broader implications of model deployment. Altman characterized the job as demanding and urgent, reflecting how rapidly AI capabilities continue to evolve.
Role Targets Threat Modeling And Safety Systems
The Head of Preparedness will sit within OpenAI’s Safety Systems team, where responsibilities include developing threat models, coordinating risk evaluations across multiple domains and integrating mitigation planning into product development cycles.
OpenAI has stressed that this function is intended to anticipate harms before models are widely deployed, placing structured risk oversight alongside ongoing innovation efforts.
Industry observers say the creation of this executive safety role illustrates how major AI developers are increasingly responding to calls for robust governance frameworks. Large language models and other advanced systems can present complex challenges that range from content safety and privacy to broader societal effects on job markets and human behaviour.
Context Of Rising AI Safety Scrutiny
The move by OpenAI aligns with broader industry momentum toward embedding safety practices into AI development. In recent years, technology companies and research organizations have participated in global efforts like the 2023 AI Safety Summit in the United Kingdom, which aimed to establish principles and collaborative strategies for addressing shared AI risk concerns.
OpenAI’s recruitment occurs amid heightened public and legal scrutiny of AI systems following lawsuits alleging harmful interactions between users and ChatGPT that intersect with mental health issues and product liability claims. One widely reported case involves a wrongful-death suit claiming an AI chatbot contributed to a teenager’s suicide, highlighting real-world consequences that regulators and developers are beginning to confront.
Balancing Innovation And Oversight
OpenAI has previously implemented internal safety measures, including a safety council and updated model responses in sensitive conversations. The new executive position is intended to elevate those efforts with a centralized leadership mandate focused on risk mitigation and preparedness as AI systems grow in complexity and influence.
While the creation of this role does not guarantee elimination of all risks, it signals OpenAI’s acknowledgement of the growing importance of structured safety oversight as models expand in scale and capability, and as public expectations for responsible AI deployment continue to rise.
