Andrej Karpathy, a prominent AI researcher and founding member of OpenAI, announced on Tuesday that he has joined Anthropic, a direct competitor to OpenAI. This marks his return to a major frontier lab after over a year of independent projects, during which he launched Eureka Labs, an AI education startup, and created the popular "Zero to Hero" video series on neural networks. Karpathy also coined the term "vibe coding" in February 2025, describing a workflow where AI models write code and users accept changes without reviewing the diff—a concept that quickly entered mainstream developer vocabulary and has been used in building crypto trading bots and lowering barriers for Web3 developers. At Anthropic, Karpathy is expected to focus on LLM training and agentic systems, though specific projects remain undisclosed. His arrival intensifies the talent competition between Anthropic and OpenAI, which have seen a steady stream of senior moves recently. Karpathy plans to continue his education work alongside his role at Anthropic.

Key facts

• Karpathy joins Anthropic as a researcher, returning to frontier lab work.
• He was an OpenAI founding member, leaving and rejoining multiple times.
• During independent work, he launched Eureka Labs and the 'Zero to Hero' series.
• He coined 'vibe coding,' now widely used in AI-assisted programming.
• Karpathy's focus may be on LLM training and agentic systems at Anthropic.