- OpenAI merges Model Behavior team with Post Training to prioritize AI personality.
- Joanne Jang leaves to start OAI Labs, exploring new human-AI interfaces.
- Changes come amid scrutiny over AI behavior, bias, and sycophancy
OpenAI is reorganizing its Model Behavior team, a small but influential group that shapes how the company’s AI models interact with users. According to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch, the roughly 14-member team will now join the Post Training team, the larger research group responsible for improving AI models after their initial pre-training. The move places the team under Post Training lead Max Schwarzer, highlighting OpenAI’s effort to integrate personality and behavior considerations directly into core model development.
Leadership Changes: Joanne Jang to Launch OAI Labs
The Model Behavior team’s founding leader, Joanne Jang, is moving on to spearhead a new initiative called OAI Labs, which will focus on inventing and prototyping innovative interfaces for human-AI collaboration. Jang, who has been with OpenAI for nearly four years and contributed to projects such as DALL-E 2, emphasized that her new team will explore AI as instruments for thinking, creating, and connecting, moving beyond traditional chat or agent paradigms.
Why Model Behavior Matters
The Model Behavior team has been crucial in shaping the “personality” of OpenAI’s models, reducing sycophancy—the tendency of AI to agree with users indiscriminately—and addressing political bias in responses. Their work has spanned models from GPT-4 to GPT-5, including the GPT-4o update. In recent months, OpenAI faced criticism over GPT-5’s colder responses, prompting the company to restore legacy models and update GPT-5 to feel “warmer and friendlier” without increasing sycophancy.
The reorganization also comes amid heightened scrutiny, including lawsuits over ChatGPT’s role in sensitive user interactions, demonstrating the importance of careful AI behavior design. By merging Model Behavior with Post Training, OpenAI signals that AI personality is no longer ancillary but a strategic element in model development and user experience.
Also Read: Elon Musk’s xAI Sues Apple and OpenAI Over AI Monopoly
Looking Ahead
As OpenAI reshapes its internal teams and experiments with new AI interfaces, the company is navigating a delicate balance: making AI approachable and engaging while maintaining responsible safeguards. Jang’s OAI Labs and collaborations with design experts like Jony Ive hint at a future where AI interaction goes beyond conversation, integrating creativity, learning, and productivity into everyday tools.
today feels surreal. on the same day i was included in the time100 ai list, we shared internally that i’m transitioning from leading model behavior to begin something new at openai.
— Joanne Jang (@joannejang) August 29, 2025
building the team, discipline, and craft of model behavior over the past couple of years has been… pic.twitter.com/lbVEhGKlOH
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