OpenAI is reorganizing its Model Behavior team, a small but influential group of researchers who shape how the company’s AI models interact with people, TechCrunch has learned. In an August memo to staff seen by TechCrunch, OpenAI’s chief research officer Mark Chen said the Model Behavior team — which consists of roughly 14 researchers — would be joining the Post Training team, a larger research group responsible for improving the company’s AI models after their initial pre-training. As part of the changes, the Model Behavior team will now report to OpenAI’s Post Training lead Max Schwarzer. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed these changes to TechCrunch. The Model Behavior team’s founding leader, Joanne Jang, is also moving on to start a new project at the company. In an interview with TechCrunch, Jang says she’s building out a new research team called OAI Labs, which will be responsible for “inventing and prototyping new interfaces for how people collaborate with AI.” The Model Behavior team has become one of OpenAI’s key research groups, responsible for shaping the personality of the company’s AI models and for reducing sycophancy [https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/29/openai-explains-why-chatgpt-became-too-sycophantic/] — which occurs when AI models simply agree with and reinforce user beliefs, even unhealthy ones, rather than offering balanced responses. The team has also worked on navigating political bias in model responses and helped OpenAI define its stance on AI consciousness [https://reservoirsamples.substack.com/p/some-thoughts-on-human-ai-relationships]. In the memo to staff, Chen said that now is the time to bring the work of OpenAI’s Model Behavior team closer to core model development. By doing so, the company is signaling that the “personality” of its AI is now considered a critical factor in how the technology evolves. In recent months, OpenAI has faced increased scrutiny over the behavior of its AI models. Users strongly objected to personality changes [https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/08/sam-altman-addresses-bumpy-gpt-5-rollout-bringing-4o-back-and-the-chart-crime/] made to GPT-5, which the company said exhibited lower rates of sycophancy but seemed colder to some users. This led OpenAI to restore access to some of its legacy models, such as GPT-4o, and to release an update [https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/17/gpt-5-is-supposed-to-be-nicer-now/] to make the newer GPT-5 responses feel “warmer and friendlier” without increasing sycophancy. Techcrunch event TECH AND VC HEAVYWEIGHTS JOIN THE DISRUPT 2025 AGENDA NETFLIX, ELEVENLABS, WAYVE, SEQUOIA CAPITAL, ELAD GIL — JUST A FEW OF THE HEAVY HITTERS JOINING THE DISRUPT 2025 AGENDA. THEY’RE HERE TO DELIVER THE INSIGHTS THAT FUEL STARTUP GROWTH AND SHARPEN YOUR EDGE. DON’T MISS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF TECHCRUNCH DISRUPT, AND A CHANCE TO LEARN FROM THE TOP VOICES IN TECH — GRAB YOUR TICKET NOW AND SAVE UP TO $600+ BEFORE PRICES RISE. TECH AND VC HEAVYWEIGHTS JOIN THE DISRUPT 2025 AGENDA NETFLIX,