Sam Blackshear, co-founder and chief technology officer of Mysten Labs, is leaving the company to join Anthropic. Blackshear will focus on AI security at the frontier research lab, as artificial intelligence reshapes the threat landscape between attackers and defenders.
Blackshear cofounded Mysten Labs in 2021 alongside Evan Cheng, George Danezis, and others. The team built Sui, a Layer 1 blockchain designed for high throughput and low latency using Move programming language. Sui launched its mainnet in May 2023 and uses delegated proof of stake for consensus.
His departure marks another executive shuffle in the crypto ecosystem as technical talent increasingly flows toward AI infrastructure. Anthropic, the AI safety company founded by Dario and Daniela Amodei, has raised billions in funding to develop safer large language models. The company's research focuses on interpretability, constitutional AI, and alignment methods.
Blackshear's move reflects broader industry trends. Top technologists are pivoting toward AI because the field offers higher market valuations, better funding, and perceived first-mover advantages. Crypto native engineers bring systems thinking and cryptographic expertise that translates to security-hardened AI systems.
The exact timing of his transition from Mysten Labs remains unclear. Mysten Labs continues developing Sui's ecosystem, but the departure of its CTO signals potential leadership adjustments within the company. The organization will need to assign Blackshear's responsibilities or recruit replacement talent.
This shift differs from typical crypto departures. Blackshear isn't moving to a competing blockchain or venture firm. Instead, he's pivoting entirely toward AI safety and security research, a field that currently attracts more top-tier talent and capital than blockchain development.
Anthropic's focus on AI security aligns with Blacksh