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

Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI’s longest-serving executives, is leaving the powerful AI lab to “start something new.”

In an internal message that Lightcap shared online Tuesday, the outgoing executive told OpenAI staff, “It is bittersweet to share that I am leaving OpenAI to start something new.”

Lightcap, who joined the company in 2018, spent four years as OpenAI’s chief financial officer. He was later promoted to chief operating officer, a position he held from 2022 until early this year, when he was moved to head the company’s special projects amid a shake-up in executive roles. Prior to joining OpenAI, Lightcap also worked with Sam Altman, CEO of venture capital firm Y Combinator.

“I had the privilege of building the first versions of most of our operational and business teams, from finance to legal, human resources, CorpSec, GTM/Government, partnerships, and more,” Lightcap said in a message Tuesday. “The most rewarding part of this journey for me has been watching each team grow under such great leaders.”

Mr. Lightcap looked to the future in his memo, hinting at future business but offering few details about what it might look like.

“For the past several months, I have been focused on what’s next on the horizon and what stands in the way of mission success,” Lightcap said. “I think there are some important new things the world needs to get right as we enter this next period. I have more to share soon, but I believe in OpenAI more than ever and am excited to help you advance your mission from a different perspective.”

OpenAI is gearing up for a major industry-wide IPO, with a top-level leadership shakeup. In July, Fiji Simo, the company’s No. 2 executive who led AGI development, announced he was resigning. Other executives in less central areas of the company have also left recently, including Bill Peebles, the former head of the company’s defunct video generator Sora, and Kevin Weil, the company’s vice president of science.