Paul Christiano appointed to OpenAI Foundation Board and Safety and Security Committee, also named non-voting observer on OpenAI Group PBC Board
Following·New·first covered 9 Sep 2026·3 sources
Paul Christiano Joins OpenAI Foundation Board and Safety Committee
The gist
The Safety and Security Committee oversees safety and security practices across all of OpenAI. OpenAI cited Christiano's perspective as one that takes seriously the possibility that advanced AI could pose catastrophic risks and that developers must prepare before systems reach more dangerous capability levels.
The full picture
Paul Christiano, founder of the Alignment Research Center and former alignment research lead at OpenAI, has been appointed to the OpenAI Foundation Board as a non-voting observer and will serve on its Safety and Security Committee alongside its chair Zico Kolter. He will also serve as a non-voting observer on the OpenAI Group PBC Board. Christiano previously led alignment research at OpenAI from 2017 to 2021, contributing foundational work on RLHF, and brings government experience from roles as Senior Tech Advisor at NIST's Center for AI Standards and Innovation and its predecessor the U.S. AI Safety Institute. The appointment follows the governance structure established through OpenAI's recapitalization in October 2025, which was informed by reviews from the California and Delaware Attorneys General.
How it developed
Sources
OpenAI Twitter
Miles Brundage Twitter
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