OpenAI reshuffles top executives as AGI CEO takes medical leave ahead of potential IPO

OpenAI COO Shifts Out of Role, AGI CEO Taking Medical Leave

OpenAI's chief operating officer is shifting into a new role and two other top executives are going on leave due to health reasons, marking a major change to its executive bench ahead of a potential Wall Street debut as soon as this year. Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's longtime COO, will now lead special projects and report directly to Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman, according to a memo viewed by Bloomberg. One of his main efforts will be overseeing OpenAI's push to sell software to businesses through a joint venture with private equity firms. Denise Dresser, OpenAI's recently appointed chief revenue officer, will be taking over some of Lightcap's duties. Meanwhile, Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch is stepping down from her position to focus on her recovery from cancer, with plans to return in a more limited purview as her health allows. The company is searching for a new CMO. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of AGI development who oversees much of its core business, will also take a medical leave for several weeks to seek new treatment for an ongoing neuroimmune condition and plans to return to her position. The flurry of changes coincide with a pivotal moment for the company. OpenAI is preparing for a possible initial public offering and just raised $122 billion in funding at an $852 billion valuation this week. Meanwhile, it's pushing to bolster revenue by introducing advertising in ChatGPT, among other efforts. The company also faces heightened competition from Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Anthropic PBC, the latter of which is expected to go public as soon as this year. "We have a strong leadership team focused on our biggest priorities: advancing frontier research, growing our global user base of nearly 1 billion users, and powering enterprise use cases," OpenAI said in a statement. "We're well-positioned to keep executing with continuity and momentum." The ChatGPT maker is no stranger to executive shakeups. In the months after Altman's brief ouster from OpenAI in late 2023, the company contended with a series of high-profile departures. It eventually overhauled and dramatically increased the size of the board and C-Suite, bringing on seasoned leaders with marketing, finance and operational experience. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By continuing, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Simo, the former CEO of Instacart, joined OpenAI's executive team last year to help shape the company's product development strategy. In recent weeks, she has played a key role in pushing the company to streamline its sprawling mix of services and develop a single "Super App" that would bring together its chatbot, coding tool and web browser. She also called for dropping work on "side quests," shortly before the company discontinued support for its Sora AI video generator, and has overseen the push to test ads in ChatGPT. "The timing is maddening because we have such an exciting roadmap ahead that the team is executing on, and I hate to miss even a minute of it," Simo said in the company memo about her decision to go on leave. "But the company is in great hands; we have an excellent leadership team that's ready to step up." Simo has been public about her ongoing management of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which she has worked through over the course of her career. "For my entire time here, I've postponed medical tests and new therapies to stay completely focused on the job and not miss a single day of work," she said in the memo. "I took time off for the first time two weeks before the break for some medical tests, and it's now clear that I've pushed a little too far and I really need to try new interventions to stabilize my health." While Simo is on leave, OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman will lead product. Other executives will also help fill in for Simo while she's out, including Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar and Dresser.

Two OpenAI Execs, Including CEO of AGI, Going on Medical Leave

Can't-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Something's going on at OpenAI -- and it isn't just the pre-IPO jitters. According to Bloomberg, the company behind ChatGPT is sending not just one, but two top executives away on extended medical leave. The company's chief marketing officer Kate Rouch is reportedly stepping down to recover from cancer, the publication reports, though she'll have a contingency in place to make limited returns to the office if her health allows. And Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of artificial general intelligence development -- and arguably one of the AI company's most important cogs -- is taking medical leave. Simo ultimately plans to return to her position, but will be gone for several weeks to find treatment for a neuroimmune condition. On top of all that, the company's chief operating officer Brad Lightcap is also being shuffled into a new role. According to Bloomberg, Lightcap will be the new special projects lead, forcing the chief revenue officer to take up some of his previous COO work. If your head is spinning, just imagine what it's like inside OpenAI's hermetically sealed offices. The company has recently jettisoned some of its banner projects like Sora -- the AI video generation model which included a massive partnership with Disney -- while it juggles major bottlenecks with its data center buildout. Against that chaotic backdrop, the company has begun an all-out push to go public, though it remains to be seen how its now thoroughly reshuffled executive branch handles the pressure. In a statement to Bloomberg, the company insisted it has a "strong leadership team focused on our biggest priorities: advancing frontier research, growing our global user base of nearly one billion users, and powering enterprise use cases. We're well-positioned to keep executing with continuity and momentum."