OpenAI’s changes include a new role for COO Brad Lightcap to lead “special projects”

A handful of OpenAI executives are transitioning into new roles, according to a source report Bloomberg. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the staffing changes to TechCrunch.

AGI’s chief development officer Fidji Simo announced in a memo that Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, has a new role leading “special projects,” which will include “complex and business-wide activities.” He will report directly to CEO Sam Altman.

Denise Dresser, Slack’s former CEO recently joined OpenAI as chief financial officer, will take over some of Lightcap’s COO duties in the short term.

Simo also had some news of his own to share: He will be taking the next few weeks off for a diagnosis of a neuroimmune disease.

“I have done everything I can to avoid it, but unfortunately my body is not cooperating,” Simo wrote in a memo published by Bloomberg.

“It’s a bad moment because we have such an exciting way that this team is doing, and I hate to miss even one minute,” he said.

While on leave, OpenAI co-founder and President Greg Brockman will oversee the business.

Kate Rouch, OpenAI’s chief marketing officer, is also stepping down to focus on cancer treatment, but will return “in a different, more visible capacity when her health permits,” the memo said. The company is planning to search for a new CMO.

“We have a strong leadership team focused on what matters most: advancing frontier research, growing our global user base to nearly 1 billion, and empowering user businesses,” OpenAI told TechCrunch in a statement. “We’re ready to continue to do it consistently and quickly.”