OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap Leaves After 8 Years to Start New Venture

Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI’s longest-serving senior executives, is leaving the company after eight years to start a new venture.

Lightcap announced his departure in a post on X, saying he would be “moving on from OpenAI to start something new”. He did not disclose details about the venture, but said he had spent the past few months thinking about “the next horizon” and the issues that could affect the AI industry’s next phase.

“I believe there are a few important new things the world will need to get right as we enter this next period,” Lightcap wrote. He said he would share more about those plans soon.

Lightcap will remain at OpenAI for the next few weeks. “I am not going far and hope to continue to support you all however I can,” he wrote.

His departure comes months after OpenAI moved him out of the Chief Operating Officer role as part of a broader leadership reshuffle. 

OpenAI had expanded Lightcap’s COO remit in March 2025 to cover global deployment, business strategy, partnerships and infrastructure. Altman said at the time that Lightcap would oversee the company’s business and day-to-day operations.

Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018 after being introduced to Altman, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever. In his farewell message, he recalled seeing an early pitch deck arguing that AI models could improve predictably with scale.

“If you had told me then that we’d be where we are today, I wouldn't have believed you,” he wrote.

During his tenure, Lightcap said he helped build early versions of OpenAI’s finance, legal, people, corporate security, go-to-market and government relations, and partnerships teams. 

He also played a role in expanding the company’s commercial operations as OpenAI moved from a research organisation into a company serving consumers and enterprises.

OpenAI appointed Lightcap as COO in 2022. His role also extended to major commercial partnerships and acquisitions. 

Altman thanked Lightcap for his contribution, saying the two had first discussed OpenAI when the idea “sounded totally crazy”.

“Since then, you have taken on any function and challenge OpenAI has needed; we would not be where we are without you,” Altman wrote. “Excited to work together on what's next.”

Lightcap’s exit adds to a series of senior leadership changes at OpenAI as the company prepares for its next stage of growth. 

Fidji Simo, who had served as CEO of Applications and later CEO of AGI deployment, stepped down from her full-time role in July and moved to a part-time advisory position. Kate Rouch, OpenAI’s Chief Marketing Officer, also left the company after announcing in April that she would step down to focus on her recovery. 

Srinivas Narayanan, who led engineering for OpenAI’s B2B applications, left in April after three years at the company. Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s Chief Product Officer, and Bill Peebles, a research scientist associated with Sora, also departed around the same period.