July 23 (Reuters) -

OpenAI has reassigned its artificial intelligence (AI)

safety leader Aleksander Madry to a "bigger role within the

research organization", The Information reported on Tuesday.

Madry set up the AI company's Preparedness team last

year to evaluate AI models for "catastrophic risks" before

making them available to the public, the report said.

OpenAI researcher Tejal Patwardhan will now manage much of

the work of the Preparedness team, the report added, citing a

person familiar with the matter.

Madry's reassignment comes at a time when OpenAI's chatbots,

which can engage in human-like conversations and create videos

and images based on text prompts, have become increasingly

powerful and have stirred safety concerns.

Earlier this year, the Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed company

formed a Safety and Security Committee to be led by board

members, including CEO Sam Altman, in the run-up to its training

of its next artificial intelligence model.

OpenAI and Madry did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.