OpenAI’s Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, has announced her departure from the company after six and a half years. In a memo shared on X, Murati expressed that she had made the “difficult decision” to step away from OpenAI, citing her desire for personal exploration and reflection.

“There’s never an ideal time to step away from a place one cherishes, yet this moment feels right,” Murati wrote, emphasizing her commitment to ensuring a smooth transition for the company during this critical time.

Her exit follows other high-profile departures from the company, including co-founder Ilya Sutskever and former safety leader Jan Leike in May, as well as co-founder John Schulman, who left last month to join rival company Anthropic.

Murati’s departure comes at a time when OpenAI is pursuing a new funding round, potentially valuing the company at over $150 billion, with significant investments anticipated from major players like Thrive Capital, Microsoft, and Nvidia. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has seen rapid growth since 2022 but has also faced internal controversies and employee turnover, sparking concerns about its ability to scale safely.

Murati became a public figure when she was appointed interim CEO last November after the abrupt ousting of CEO Sam Altman. Despite her departure, she remains focused on supporting OpenAI’s momentum in the coming months.

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and key witness in the criminal case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, faces sentencing this Tuesday. Despite her involvement in the massive fraud that led to FTX’s collapse, Ellison may avoid significant jail time due to her cooperation with federal authorities.

Ellison admitted to defrauding investors and misappropriating billions of dollars from FTX customers, redirecting funds to Alameda’s speculative trading and debt repayment. Both Ellison and Bankman-Fried face the same serious charges, which carry a potential maximum sentence of 110 years. However, her cooperation with prosecutors has been deemed “extraordinary,” leading the federal Probation Department to recommend “time served” with three years of supervised release.

Her testimony was crucial in portraying Bankman-Fried’s role in the collapse, particularly due to their close personal relationship. This unique insight into his operations helped strengthen the government’s case. While Ellison was involved in fraudulent activities, legal experts believe her lesser control compared to Bankman-Fried will likely result in a lighter sentence, potentially no more than 18 months in prison.

CrowdStrike, the US cybersecurity company, is set to face questions in the US Congress over a global IT outage on 19 July that left millions of systems using Microsoft software crippled. The incident, triggered by a rogue software update, affected up to 8.5 million computers worldwide, disrupting key services, including healthcare and transportation.

Among those hit were General Practitioners (GPs) in the UK, who struggled to access patient records and manage appointments. Dr. David Wrigley, a GP of 22 years, expressed concerns that the outage might have caused delays in critical treatments, including for cancer patients. GPs using the EMIS system, a vital tool for managing appointments and prescriptions, were unable to provide care during the disruption.

The outage also affected air travel, stranding passengers as planes were unable to depart, and small businesses lost substantial revenue due to system failures. Adam Meyers, a senior executive at CrowdStrike, will testify before Congress on Tuesday to explain the cause of the outage and outline steps the company will take to prevent similar incidents in the future.