OpenAI's second hardware hire Clive Chan joins Anthropic

Why it matters

OpenAI's custom silicon work is part of the AI sector's push to reduce dependence on external compute suppliers. A departure from that team is notable because the Broadcom-linked timeline is already publicly tied to the second half of 2026.

Clive Chan (@itsclivetime) said he has left OpenAI, where he worked on the company's custom chip program, and joined Anthropic this week, according to a LinkedIn post describing the move.

Chan said he was OpenAI's "second hardware hire" 2.4 years ago and was "proud to have been part of the custom chip program." He praised the team, writing that "the density of hardware talent on that team is extraordinary" and that he does not think "there's a better chip design team anywhere."

He did not frame the departure around a grievance. Instead, Chan wrote that he "hasn't been able to shake the pull to climb a new mountain from the bottom again" and joined Anthropic because he was impressed by the team's "talent, values, and ambition." He said he was already energized by "the pace and intensity" of his first few days there.

The OpenAI timing remains the technical signal. In his earlier post, Chan pointed to OpenAI and Broadcom's announcement and highlighted its language that the work is "targeted to start in the second half of 2026." In the LinkedIn post, he said he is "excited to watch these chips become one of the most important engines of AGI."

Chan's move puts an early OpenAI hardware hire inside Anthropic as the largest AI labs push deeper into the compute stack, where model performance, supply constraints and infrastructure cost all converge. His departure does not, on its own, say anything about OpenAI's chip schedule, but it underscores how intensely AI labs are competing for scarce silicon talent.