OpenAI Reshuffles Leadership: COO Brad Lightcap's Role Expands as CEO Sam Altman Shifts Focus

OpenAI reshuffles Sam Altman's job once again

Kylie Robison is a senior AI reporter working with The Verge's policy and tech teams. She previously worked at Fortune Magazine and Business Insider. In a significant executive shuffle announced Monday, OpenAI is expanding COO Brad Lightcap's responsibilities while CEO Sam Altman shifts his attention more toward the company's technical direction. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. Lightcap will now "oversee day-to-day operations," international expansion, and manage key partnerships with tech giants like Microsoft and Apple, according to Bloomberg. OpenAI has also promoted Mark Chen to chief research officer (he was recently SVP of research) and Julia Villagra to chief people officer (she was formerly VP of people). "OpenAI has grown a lot. We remain focused on the same core -- pursuing frontier AI research that accelerates human progress -- but we now also deliver products used by hundreds of millions of people," the company wrote in a blog post announcing the changes. The company told Bloomberg that the latest leadership changes mean CEO Sam Altman is "focusing more on guiding the ChatGPT maker's research and product efforts" and have no plans to replace former CTO Mira Murati, who left in September to launch her own AI startup. The changes to OpenAI's leadership is shifting thanks to some vacancies left by other departures. The startup's chief research officer, Bob McGrew, departed in September along with Murati and VP of post training Barret Zoph. At the time, Altman said, "I obviously won't pretend it's natural" for the abrupt departures "but we are not a normal company" and called the leadership changes "a natural part of companies." The new leadership promotions also lead into an impending restructuring of the startup. In December, OpenAI announced it would transform from a non-profit to a for-profit company, move that led to a lawsuit from cofounder Elon Musk who claims the startup is looking to make maximum profits rather than create AI "for the benefit of humanity."

OpenAI COO to spearhead global growth, partnerships in expanded role, Altman says

March 24 (Reuters) - OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will oversee global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O), opens new tab startup seeks to cement its dominance in the fast-growing AI industry. The ChatGPT-maker is partnering with SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab and Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. "Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research," Altman said. OpenAI has also expanded the role of Chief Research Officer Mark Chen, who will integrate research and product development, the startup's co-founder said in a blog post. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap takes on expanded role as CEO Sam Altman shifts focus to research - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap takes on expanded role as CEO Sam Altman shifts focus to research OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap's role at the company is being expanded, and he'll henceforth be tasked with running the company's "business and day-to-day operations", giving Chief Executive Sam Altman more time to focus on research and products. In a blog post Monday, OpenAI said that Lightcap (pictured), who has been at the company since 2018, is now in charge of "global deployment", with responsibility over its infrastructure, strategy and partnerships. Altman's decision to give Lightcap a higher profile at the company comes at a time when pressures are mounting. OpenAI was last month said to be closing on a new $40 billion investment from SoftBank Group Corp. that would value it at a staggering $260 billion. It's said that a huge chunk of that money is earmarked for the company's Stargate venture, which was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump alongside SoftBank and Oracle Corp. in January. The Stargate initiative calls for up to $500 billion to be spent building the infrastructure for artificial intelligence computing in the U.S. Lightcap isn't the only OpenAI executive being given more responsibilities. In addition, the company said Mark Chen, who has served as the company's head of frontier research since 2018, has been promoted to the role of Chief Research Officer. His LinkedIn profile suggests he has held that new position since January, but it's only officially being announced today. The company also revealed Julia Villagra, formerly Head of Human Resources, as its new Chief People Officer. According to Altman, her new role is to ensure that OpenAI "remains the top destination for people who want to build artificial general intelligence", otherwise known as AGI, which is a term that refers to AI systems that can surpass human intelligence. While OpenAI has become synonymous with the generative AI and now the "agentic AI" revolution, it faces intense competition in the industry from numerous rivals, including other high-value startups such as Anthropic PBC, Chinese AI firms like DeepSeek Ltd., and also tech stalwarts such as Google LLC, Meta Platforms Inc. and even Microsoft Corp., which is also a key financial backer. The company has also been engaged in a heated public relations struggle with Elon Musk, whose xAI Corp. is another rival with its chatbot Grok. Musk, who has close ties to the Trump administration, was one of OpenAI's co-founders but left the company after he fell out with Altman.

OpenAI Expands COO's Role as Sam Altman Focuses on Research and Products

The leadership updates follow a string of high-profile departures OpenAI is expanding the role of its chief operating officer and elevating two executives to the C-suite as Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman shifts more of his focus to the technical side. The San Francisco-based company is set to announce Monday that COO Brad Lightcap will take on greater responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the business, including overseeing international expansion and corporate partnerships with firms such as Microsoft and Apple. Mark Chen and Julia Villagra have also been promoted to chief research officer and chief people officer, respectively. Altman, meanwhile, is focusing more on guiding the ChatGPT maker's research and product efforts, the company said. OpenAI is not planning to hire a replacement for former Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who announced that she was leaving the company in September and has since launched an AI startup. OpenAI has significantly expanded its leadership ranks since Altman was briefly ousted by the board in late 2023, reflecting the company's growing headcount, valuation and ambitions. The latest executive moves signal that Altman wants to push ahead with cutting-edge AI research that can support powerful new products for consumers and businesse "We remain focused on the same core -- pursuing frontier AI research that accelerates human progress," Altman said in a company blog post. "But we now also deliver products used by hundreds of millions of people." The leadership updates follow a string of high-profile departures from the company, including former Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, co-founder John Schulman and Murati. Some who've left, including Jan Leike, formerly in charge of a team focused on long-term AI risks, have been publicly skeptical of OpenAI's commitment to ensuring safe AI development. In the blog post, Altman said he thinks "real-world usage" of OpenAI's technology "helps make our research better." OpenAI also said it remains committed to its mission to build artificial general intelligence -- or AI that can perform most intellectual tasks better than people -- in a way that's beneficial for humanity. Chen will likely play a key role in assessing any potential trade-offs between prioritizing safety and new software releases. An OpenAI veteran who was previously the senior vice president of research, Chen is tasked with integrating research and product development. The goal, according to the blog post, is "enabling faster translation of research into products people love." Founded a decade ago as a nonprofit research organization, OpenAI is in discussions to restructure as a more conventional for-profit, public benefit corporation. The company is also in talks to raise as much as $40 billion in a new funding round at a $300 billion post-money valuation, Bloomberg previously reported. © 2025 Bloomberg LP

OpenAI COO to spearhead global growth, partnerships in expanded role, Sam Altman says

OpenAI is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. "Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research," Altman said.OpenAI's chief operating officer Brad Lightcap will oversee global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed startup seeks to cement its dominance in the fast-growing AI industry. The ChatGPT-maker is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. "Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research," Altman said. OpenAI has also expanded the role of chief research officer Mark Chen, who will integrate research and product development, the startup's cofounder said in a blog post.

OpenAI Restructures Leadership As Sam Altman Shifts Focus To Innovation And Technical Strategy

OpenAI has come a long way and it keeps on pushing boundaries and challenging itself by setting ambitious goals. The company has undergone significant changes in recent times, moving away from a non-profit model to a for-profit organization. It is aggressively bringing about new models and updates, especially with the increasing competition in the tech industry and with DeepSeek's growing popularity. Sam Altman promised some major developments for the year and seems to be committed to advancing in the AI field by taking major steps and restructuring leadership. OpenAI is now focusing more aggressively on its AI initiatives, as Sam Altman is making some significant changes in the leadership structure in order to advance its AI research and expand further globally. While Altman would be focusing more attentively on the technical direction of the company, it has reshuffled salient roles to progress more rapidly. OpenAI announced through a blog post that it will be scaling further and will be enhancing the responsibilities of three of its key leaders. Brad Lightcap has been with OpenAI since 2018, and his role will be enriched further as Chief Operating Officer. His main duties would be to manage day-to-day operations, manage key partners such as Apple and Microsoft, and push for international growth. Mark Chen, on the other hand, has been promoted to the role of Chief Research Officer and is tasked with overseeing the scientific progress of the company by pushing for integrating research and product development. Julia Villagra has been assigned the position of Chief People Officer and will assist the company in expanding globally and overcoming the challenges of rapidly scaling the company. She would also be building a culture to support the global expansion. It has not been long since the company's Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, went on to start her own AI venture, and such restructuring was the need of the hour. Sam Altman seems to be increasingly focused on pushing boundaries when it comes to research and product development as he intends to give more attention to OpenAI's core AI technologies and innovations and assign day-to-day operations to others in the leadership roles, giving more space for staying focused on the future goals of the company. The reshuffling in leadership also emphasizes OpenAI's commitment to excelling further in the AI frontier and reaching more users worldwide.

OpenAI broadens COO role as CEO Altman shifts focus to tech - Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com -- OpenAI, the San Francisco-based AI firm, is expanding the responsibilities of its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Brad Lightcap, as CEO Sam Altman shifts his focus towards the technical aspect of the company, according to Bloomberg News. The changes, set to be announced on Monday, will see Lightcap take on a more prominent role in the day-to-day operations, including managing international expansion and corporate partnerships with companies like Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT). and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). In addition to Lightcap's expanded role, OpenAI has also promoted two executives to C-suite positions. Mark Chen and Julia Villagra have been promoted to Chief Research Officer and Chief People Officer, respectively. As part of these changes, Altman will focus more on guiding the research and product efforts of the company, which is known for its ChatGPT technology. OpenAI has stated that it does not plan to hire a replacement for the former Chief Technology Officer, Mira Murati, who left the company in September and has since started her own AI startup.

OpenAI COO to spearhead global growth, partnerships in expanded role, Altman says

(Reuters) - OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will oversee global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed startup seeks to cement its dominance in the fast-growing AI industry. The ChatGPT-maker is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. "Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research," Altman said. OpenAI has also expanded the role of Chief Research Officer Mark Chen, who will integrate research and product development, the startup's co-founder said in a blog post. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

OpenAI COO to lead global growth push in expanded role, Altman says

March 24 (Reuters) - OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap will spearhead global expansion and corporate partnerships, CEO Sam Altman said on Monday, as the Microsoft-backed startup seeks to cement its dominance in the rapidly growing AI industry. Altman will increasingly focus on the technical side to boost the ChatGPT-maker's research and product initiatives, while remaining in charge of things, OpenAI said. The company is partnering with SoftBank Group and Oracle to establish a network of data centers under the $500-billion Stargate project, aimed at powering artificial intelligence workloads. "Brad will lead our global deployment, focusing on business strategy, key partnerships, infrastructure, and operational excellence to maximize the impact of our research," Altman said. Lightcap, who previously worked with Altman at venture capital firm Y Combinator, joined OpenAI in 2018. OpenAI has also expanded the role of Chief Research Officer Mark Chen, who will integrate research and product development, the startup's co-founder said in a blog post. Altman said in February that OpenAI would simplify its products, a sign the startup was willing to make changes to attract new investments amid growing investor scrutiny around massive artificial-intelligence spending. San Francisco-based OpenAI, which is in the process of raising $40 billion, is seeking to funding round in October. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Pooja Desai)