Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI Seeks Head of Preparedness for AI Security Risks

Can OpenAI's preparedness strategy truly ensure safe development, or are the risks so great that only a moratorium on advanced AI can contain them?

Published DEC 29 2025

OpenAI Seeks Head of Preparedness for AI Security Risks

Story

Above: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, on Sept. 23, 2025. Image credit: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

OpenAI announced on Sunday that it is hiring a new Head of Preparedness to address the risks posed by advanced AI systems, which CEO Sam Altman stated were beginning to exploit "critical vulnerabilities" in computer security and display potential impacts on mental health.
Sam Altman on X
Verge
The Economic Times
The Head of Preparedness position offers compensation exceeding $555,000 annually plus equity, and was described by Altman as "stressful," who noted that the successful candidate will "jump into the deep end pretty much immediately."
Sam Altman on X
Openai
The role involves leading OpenAI's preparedness framework, last updated in April, which tracks "frontier capabilities that create new risks of severe harm" related to biological and chemical threats, cybersecurity and AI self-improvement.
Openai
Openai
Other responsibilities include building capability evaluations, developing threat models, overseeing mitigation design and collaborating with OpenAI's multiple other teams to "integrate preparedness into real-world deployment."
Openai
The job posting follows warnings from Anthropic last month that a Chinese state-sponsored group misused its Claude Code tool to attempt to infiltrate approximately thirty global organizations without substantial human intervention.
Anthropic
OpenAI first announced the creation of a preparedness team in 2023 to study potential catastrophic risks arising from the development of advanced AI. The team's former head, Aleksander Madry, was reassigned to a new role in July 2024.
Openai
CNBC
Business Insider

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The Spin

Techno-optimist narrative

AI's growing capabilities present challenges that require thoughtful management, not fear-mongering, as the same technology used to exploit systemic vulnerabilities can also make them more secure. OpenAI's preparedness team will facilitate the safe deployment of these powerful capabilities, enabling cybersecurity defenders while preventing misuse.

Sam Altman on X

Techno-skeptic narrative

The rush toward increasingly more advanced systems of AI poses a fundamental threat to human freedom, economic security and even survival itself. With the stakes so high, mitigation is not enough. AI companies must pause development entirely until advanced AI systems have a scientific consensus confirming their safety and genuine public support.