OpenAI长期首席运营官布拉德·莱特卡普离职，将“开启新事业”

Brad Lightcap, OpenAI's longtime COO, is leaving to 'start something new' | TechCrunch TechCrunch Desktop Logo TechCrunch Mobile Logo Latest Startups Venture Apple Security AI Apps Disrupt 2026 Events Podcasts Newsletters Search Submit Site Search Toggle Mega Menu Toggle Topics Latest AI Amazon Apps Biotech & Health Climate Cloud Computing Commerce Crypto Enterprise EVs Fintech Fundraising Gadgets Gaming Google Government & Policy Hardware Instagram Layoffs Media & Entertainment Meta Microsoft Privacy Robotics Security Social Space Startups TikTok Transportation Venture More from TechCrunch Staff Events Startup Battlefield StrictlyVC Newsletters Podcasts Videos Partner Content TechCrunch Brand Studio Contact Us Image Credits: STR/JIJI Press/AFP (opens in a new window) / Getty Images AI Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’ Lucas Ropek 10:41 AM PDT · August 11, 2026 Brad Lightcap, one of the longest-serving executives at OpenAI, is leaving the powerful AI lab to “start something new.” In an internal message that Lightcap shared online Tuesday , the outgoing executive told OpenAI staff that it was “bittersweet to share that I’ll be moving on from OpenAI to start something new.” Lightcap, who joined the company in 2018, spent four years as OpenAI’s chief financial officer. He then ascended to chief operating officer, where he served from 2022 until earlier this year when, amidst a shakeup of executive roles, he transitioned to lead special projects at the company. Prior to OpenAI, Lightcap also worked with CEO Sam Altman at venture capital firm Y Combinator. “I had the privilege of building the first versions of most of our operations and business teams – from Finance to Legal, People, CorpSec, GTM/Gov, Partnerships, and more,” Lightcap wrote in his message Tuesday. “Among the most rewarding parts of this journey for me has been watching each of these teams mature under brilliant leaders.” In his note, Lightcap also looked ahead and hinted at a future venture while giving scant details as to what it might be. “Over the last few months, I’ve been focused on the next horizon and what would stand in the way of mission success,” Lightcap said. “I believe there are a few important new things the world will need to get right as we enter this next period. I’ll have more to share soon, but I believe in OpenAI more than ever and am excited to help you all advance the mission from a different vantage point.” As OpenAI preps for an IPO of industrywide significance , the company has been undergoing a shakeup of top-level executives. In July, the company’s No. 2 executive, Fidji Simo, who led AGI development, announced she would be stepping down. Other executives from less central areas of the company — including Bill Peebles , who formerly headed the company’s now dead video generator Sora , and Kevin Weil , the vice president of the company’s Science vertical — have also recently left the firm. Topics AI , Brad Lightcap , OpenAI When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission . This doesn’t affect our editorial independence. Lucas Ropek Senior Writer, TechCrunch Lucas is a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covers artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and startups. He previously covered AI and cybersecurity at Gizmodo. You can contact Lucas by emailing lucas.ropek@techcrunch.com. View Bio October 13 – 15 San Francisco Scale faster. Grow your portfolio. Gain practical expertise. No matter your goal, Disrupt can empower you. Save up to $300 toda y! REGISTER NOW Most Popular Some Claude users are mad that Anthropic’s new watermarks will catch them using it at their jobs, classes Lucas Ropek Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni reportedly knew Phia was ‘cookie stuffing’ for months Dominic-Madori Davis Delta investigating after someone set up fake Wi-Fi network mid-flight Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai Anthropic says it will watermark text generated by its AI models Ivan Mehta Mark Zuckerberg’s AI manifesto is exactly why people don’t like AI Russell Brandom YouTube now requires creators to have twice as many watch hours to start earning money Aisha Malik This ‘adversarial’ pattern can prevent surveillance cameras from detecting you Zack Whittaker Loading the next article Error loading the next article X LinkedIn Facebook Instagram youTube Mastodon Threads Bluesky TechCrunch Staff Contact Us Advertise Site Map Terms of Service Privacy Policy RSS Terms of Use Code of Conduct Made by Google Phia Blacksmith Pixel Tag Disrupt 2026 Tech Layoffs ChatGPT © 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC.