Lilian Weng is getting techies talking about the demanding startup lifestyle.
In her exit Slack, the Thinking Machines Lab cofounder wrote that she'd "been in sickness more than what I've ever experienced in my life" over the prior seven months. "I'm constantly worried about my health," she wrote.
People from within and outside Thinking Machines applauded Weng. "We'll miss you," CEO Mira Murati replied. "I'm glad that you're putting your health first."
Here's how the AI community reacted.
Han Xiao, Elastic VP of AI #
Xiao sold his startup Jina AI to the search company Elastic. He sent Weng well-wishes — and sent a message about burnout.
"In general if you work in a team and feel if you're the one carrying everything, that's probably not on you, that's a broken team," Xiao wrote. "You'll burn out every single day and still feel lost."
Emad Mostaque, Stability AI founder #
Mostaque wrote that working at an AI startup is "so hard."
"I got real sick at Stability AI before leaving and finding my balance," he wrote. "Hope you can recharge and kick on, most exciting time ever! Just need to surf it right."
The founder left Stability AI in 2024. After stepping down from the leadership role, he said, "Being a CEO sucks."
Huimin Xie, cofounder of Perfectly #
The Y Combinator-backed founder and TikTok alum wrote that he was impressed that Weng "admitted her limitations," even though she had already demonstrated her skills.
"Consciously and comprehensively evaluate your own limits and strengths, and then choose an environment that is enjoyable both mentally and physically," Xie wrote. "Then you will make it naturally."
Raj Dabre, Google research engineer #
As much of Silicon Valley chases bigger roles at more powerful tech companies, Dabre wrote that Weng's story was an antidote.
"Happy to see that people are more candid about the downsides of a shiny job," he wrote. "There's more to life than the stressful situations we put ourselves into."
Joshua Achiam, ex-OpenAI chief futurist #
Achiam worked with Weng at OpenAI before she left in 2024. He said to "take care of yourself and your health" — and reminded Weng of her impact.
"You have contributed so much and helped so many and succeeded in every way that matters," he wrote.
Wenhu Chen, Meta Superintelligence Labs researcher #
Chen has one of those shiny AI jobs, working for the highly competitive — and often high-paying — Meta Superintelligence Lab.
"Making a lot of money is great, but you need to [be] healthy to spend it," he wrote about Weng.
Wesley Hsieh, ByteDance Seed senior research scientist #
Hsieh connected Weng's exit back to a startup visionary: Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham. "I remember Paul Graham saying that building startups often means compressing 10 years of efforts into one or two," he wrote. "Balancing life and mission will always be an ongoing challenge."
Priyanka Shrestha, Galen AI cofounder
Shrestha's company was backed by Y Combinator and acquired by the wearables company Oura. She wrote that it was important for leaders to show people "it's okay to choose themselves," giving Weng her props.
"Life is a marathon," she wrote, "not a sprint."