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Greg Brockman has returned to OpenAI after a three-month leave amid a wave of executive exits and leadership changes.
longest vacation of my life complete. back to building @OpenAI.
— Greg Brockman (@gdb) November 12, 2024
Brockman announced his return in an internal memo, stating he’s partnering with CEO Sam Altman in a new position dedicated to technical challenges, as reported by Bloomberg. An OpenAI representative confirmed Brockman’s return.
Brockman Returns Amid OpenAI Executive Exits
In November 2023, Altman briefly left OpenAI after the board suddenly dismissed him, drawing public attention due to the lack of explanation. Brockman, a key ally, resigned in protest but rejoined when Altman was reinstated. This August, he confirmed he was taking a sabbatical until the end of the year to relax for the first time since he helped co-found OpenAI.
Brockman’s return contrasts with the trend of C-suite executives leaving OpenAI to join rivals or start their own companies.
Ilya Sutskever, who left OpenAI in May, played a crucial role in Altman’s firing and rehiring, then founded Safe SuperIntelligence, raising $1 billion in funding. Former CTO Mira Murati, who left in September 2024, is raising funds for her AI startup, while co-founder John Schulman joined Anthropic. By November 2024, only three of OpenAI’s 11 co-founders remain.
In October, OpenAI hired Aaron Chatterji as chief economist and Scott Schools as chief compliance officer to fill leadership gaps.
