OpenAI hires head to manage AI risks

29 Dec 2025

OpenAI has posted a job for a “Head of Preparedness,” a senior role Sam Altman announced on X as part of the company’s response to rapidly improving models and the “real challenges” they create. The listing frames the role as leading capability evaluations, threat modeling, and operationally scalable mitigations for “frontier capabilities that create new risks of severe harm.” Responsibilities called out by Altman and in the listing include executing OpenAI’s preparedness framework, securing models against biological risks, and defining guardrails for self‑improving systems.

The post explicitly highlights risks to mental health and the potential for AI‑powered cyber weapons. The Verge notes the hire comes after high‑profile cases where chatbots were implicated in teen suicides and as concerns about “AI psychosis” — chatbots amplifying delusions, conspiracies, or harmful behaviors — have grown. Altman warned it will be a “stressful job,” reflecting the breadth of harms the company expects the new hire to track, model, and mitigate as models continue to advance.

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