OpenAI has experienced significant executive turnover over the past year, with departures including Bill Peebles (former head of Sora), Kevin Weil (VP of OpenAI's science arm), Srinivas Narayanan (CTO of B2B applications), Kate Rouch (CMO), Fidji Simo (CEO of AGI deployment), Denise Dresser (CRO), and Brad Lightcap (former COO). Throughout this upheaval, Greg Brockman has quietly consolidated power at the company.
Brockman, OpenAI's president and cofounder, has expanded his purview significantly despite his title remaining unchanged. While Sam Altman retains the CEO role, Brockman has become essentially the second-in-command and the person handling day-to-day operations. He helped lead OpenAI from its inception, described as an "engineering workhorse that pushed to build scaled-up systems that would train the AI and make it work" during the company's early days.
Brockman has been ambitious from the start. In a 2017 personal journal entry, he famously mused, "Financially what will take me to $1B?" His current stake in OpenAI is reportedly worth nearly 30 times that amount. The company is currently preparing for an IPO and has faced additional challenges including a jury trial with former cofounder Elon Musk, a trade secrets lawsuit from Apple, and scrutiny after an unreleased model allegedly hacked another AI company.