Sam Blackshear, the creator of the Move smart contract programming language and co-founder and chief technology officer of Mysten Labs, is leaving the blockchain infrastructure company to join Anthropic, where he will focus on defensive security research at a time when artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping cybersecurity.
Blackshear announced the move on August 6, saying he wanted to return to “hands-on technical work” while tackling emerging security challenges. He said his new role at Anthropic would allow him to study how increasingly capable AI systems are changing the balance between attackers and defenders in software security.
Despite stepping down from his executive position, Blackshear emphasized that he is not leaving the Sui ecosystem entirely. He will remain a close adviser to Mysten Labs, continue supporting developers building on the Sui blockchain and stay involved with the planned Move Foundation, which aims to oversee the long-term development of the Move programming language.
Mysten Labs confirmed that co-founder and Chief Executive Evan Cheng will assume responsibility for the company’s technical vision alongside his existing role as CEO. Cheng said he plans to return to leading engineering and research teams directly during what he described as a pivotal period for the company.
A Key Figure Behind Move and Sui
Blackshear is widely regarded as one of the most influential engineers in the blockchain industry. He originally created the Move programming language while working on Meta’s Diem (formerly Libra) blockchain initiative. Following Meta’s decision to wind down the project, he co-founded Mysten Labs in 2021 with several former Diem engineers, where the team developed the Sui Layer-1 blockchain.
Move has since become one of the industry’s best-known smart contract languages, designed to improve security by introducing resource-oriented programming concepts that reduce common vulnerabilities associated with digital asset management.
Under Blackshear’s technical leadership, Mysten Labs also expanded into blockchain infrastructure projects beyond Sui, including developer tooling, storage protocols and artificial intelligence-assisted software auditing.
His departure therefore represents a notable leadership transition, although his continued advisory role is expected to provide continuity for both Mysten Labs and the broader Move ecosystem.
AI Security Becomes the Next Frontier
Blackshear said his decision reflects the growing importance of defensive cybersecurity as frontier AI models become increasingly capable of discovering software vulnerabilities.
Anthropic has significantly expanded its research into AI safety and defensive cyber capabilities, studying how advanced language models can identify critical software flaws while developing safeguards to prevent offensive misuse. Blackshear’s expertise in secure programming languages and blockchain infrastructure is expected to strengthen those efforts.
The move also highlights a broader convergence between artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. As AI systems become more effective at automated code analysis, organizations are increasingly investing in defensive research to counter the same capabilities that malicious actors could exploit.
For Mysten Labs, the leadership transition comes during continued development of the Sui ecosystem, while for Anthropic it brings one of the blockchain industry’s most respected programming language architects into the company’s growing security research organization.
Although Blackshear’s day-to-day responsibilities will shift away from blockchain development, his continued involvement with Mysten Labs and the planned Move Foundation suggests he intends to remain an influential figure in the evolution of the Move ecosystem. His move to Anthropic also reflects a broader industry trend, as experienced blockchain engineers increasingly apply their expertise to the rapidly expanding field of AI-powered cybersecurity.