Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’

Brad Lightcap, 1 of the longest serving executives astatine OpenAI, is leaving the almighty AI laboratory to “start thing new.”

In an interior connection which Lightcap shared online Tuesday, the outgoing enforcement told OpenAI unit that it was “bittersweet to stock that I’ll beryllium moving connected from OpenAI to commencement thing new.”

Lightcap, who joined the institution successful 2018, spent 4 years arsenic OpenAI’s main fiscal officer. He past ascended to main operating officer, wherever helium served from 2022 until earlier this twelvemonth when, amidst a shakeup of enforcement roles, he transitioned to pb peculiar projects astatine the company. Prior to OpenAI, Lightcap besides worked with CEO Sam Altman astatine task superior steadfast Y-Combinator.

“I had the privilege of gathering the archetypal versions of astir of our operations and concern teams – from Finance to Legal, People, CorpSec, GTM/Gov, Partnerships, and more,” Lightcap wrote successful his connection Tuesday. “Among the astir rewarding parts of this travel for maine has been watching each of these teams mature nether superb leaders.”

In his note, Lightcap besides looked up and hinted astatine a aboriginal task portion giving scant details arsenic to what it mightiness be.

“Over the past fewer months, I’ve been focused connected the adjacent skyline and what would basal successful the mode of ngo success,” Lightcap said. “I judge determination are a fewer important caller things the satellite volition request to get close arsenic we participate this adjacent period. I’ll person much to stock soon, but I judge successful OpenAI much than ever and americium excited to assistance you each beforehand the ngo from a antithetic vantage point.”

As OpenAI preps for an IPO of industry-wide significance, the institution has been undergoing a shakeup of top-level executives. In July, the company’s No. 2 executive, Fidji Simo, who led AGI development, announced that she would beryllium stepping down. Other executives from little cardinal areas of the institution — including Bill Peebles, who formerly headed the company’s present dead video generator Sora and Kevin Weil, the vice president of the company’s Science vertical — person besides precocious near the firm.