How much you should tell your boss — and the internet — about why you're quitting your job
The rapid return of Lilian Weng to OpenAI shortly after citing health reasons for leaving a startup has sparked a debate about professional transparency. Career experts warn that while high-level AI talent may face few consequences for such moves, average employees should be cautious about their public resignation narratives.
Why it matters
It addresses the intersection of personal branding, corporate ethics, and the unique power dynamics within the highly competitive AI labor market.
Barbara Fischer, Australia./Getty Images Lilian Weng is rejoining OpenAI after saying she was leaving Thinking Machines Lab for health reasons. The move has sparked conversation about what to share when departing from a company. Career experts advise rank-and-file workers leaving their jobs to be careful about what they share. Explaining why you're quitting a job can be tricky, especially if your plans change soon afterward. Lilian Weng announced on Monday that she was leaving the AI startup she cofounded, Thinking Machines Lab, citing stress-related illness . "I don't feel I'm able to continue at the pace a startup requires," she wrote on X. "The amount of consistent stress and workload have pushed me beyond what my health can sustain physically." Two days later, OpenAI confirmed that Weng was rejoining the ChatGPT maker to lead a team focused on accelerating internal research.
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