Clive Chan, one of the key members of OpenAI's custom chip team, has left the company to join rival AI firm Anthropic.
Chan announced the move in a LinkedIn post, reflecting on his time at OpenAI and his decision to pursue a new opportunity.
Announcing the move on LinkedIn, Chan posted, “I’m proud to have been part of the custom chip program and grateful to everyone I got to build with and learn from along the way. The density of hardware talent on that team is extraordinary, and I don't think there's a better chip design team anywhere. It's been a wild journey from second hardware hire, 2.4 years ago, to now, and I'm excited to watch these chips become one of the most important engines of AGI.
At the same time, I haven’t been able to shake the pull to climb a new mountain from the bottom again!
I joined Anthropic this week because I was deeply impressed with the team’s talent, values, and ambition, and I'm already energized by the pace and intensity of the past few days. It’s time to build.”
Chan joined OpenAI in January 2024 and was involved in the company's custom chip initiatives. Before that, he spent over two years at Tesla as a Senior Software Engineer, working on the Autopilot deep learning infrastructure team and contributing to the company's Dojo supercomputing project.
His move comes amid increasing competition among leading AI companies as they continue investing in AI infrastructure, custom silicon and specialised engineering talent.
