OpenAI is losing one of the few people who helped build its operations from the ground up. Brad Lightcap, who joined the company in 2018, told staff this week that he is leaving to pursue an undisclosed new project, calling the decision bittersweet in a note he also posted publicly.
Lightcap spent four years as chief financial officer before being named COO in 2022. Earlier this year, during a broader reshuffle of OpenAI’s executive team, he moved into a special-projects role. He previously worked with Sam Altman at Y Combinator, a connection that predates his time at the lab.
In his message, Lightcap said he had the privilege of standing up the company’s first operations and business teams, spanning finance, legal, people, corporate security, go-to-market, and partnerships. He added that he had spent recent months thinking about the next horizon and believes the world will need a few important new things built, promising more details soon.
The announcement comes as OpenAI positions itself for a highly anticipated IPO and reshapes its leadership. Lightcap’s exit strips the company of an executive who had been with it through its entire transition from research outfit to AI industry powerhouse, leaving Altman to manage the C-suite transition at a delicate moment.
