ADVERTISEMENT

Company News

OpenAI Co-Founder Returns to Startup After Monthslong Leave

Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI, during the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, US, on Friday, March 10, 2023. Throngs of musicians hoping for a big break, tech leaders, filmmakers and celebrities will descend upon the conference and multiple festivals that take place over 10 days, highlighting technology, film, culture and music. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman has returned to the artificial intelligence startup three months after taking a leave from his role as president, bringing a key figure back to the C-suite amid an exodus of top executives. 

Brockman announced he has officially started working again at OpenAI in an internal memo to staffers on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss company matters. In his memo, Brockman said he has been working with Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on creating a new role for him to focus on significant technical challenges.

OpenAI confirmed Brockman’s return.

Brockman’s return comes after a string of leadership departures, including OpenAI’s former Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, co-founder John Schulman and one of its highest ranking safety researchers, Lilian Weng. Only three of OpenAI’s co-founders remain at the company, including Brockman. 

Known to many by his initials GDB, Brockman is a central figure at the company and was a key ally of Altman after his brief ousting as CEO a year ago. Brockman quit in protest after Altman was fired, before rejoining the company when the CEO returned. 

Brockman announced in August that he was taking a sabbatical through the end of the year in order to “relax” for the “first time” since helping found OpenAI nine years ago.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.