OpenAI chip veteran Clive Chan has joined Anthropic
What's the story
Clive Chan, a member of OpenAI's custom chip program, has announced his departure from the company to join its biggest rival, Anthropic. Chan had joined OpenAI in January 2024 as a Member of Technical Staff. He made the announcement on X, saying he was proud to have been part of the custom chip program and grateful for all the learning experiences along the way.
Career transition
Chan felt a strong urge to start anew
In his post, Chan reflected on his journey from being the second hardware hire at OpenAI to where he is now. He expressed excitement about watching these chips become one of the most important engines of AGI (artificial general intelligence). However, he also said that he felt a strong urge to start anew and climb a different mountain. This led him to join Anthropic this week.
Professional background
He worked at Tesla earlier
Before joining OpenAI, Chan was with Tesla for two and a half years as a senior software engineer on the Autopilot deep learning infrastructure team. He had worked on machine learning training, ASIC software frameworks, data center co-designs, and power-efficient number formats.