Brad Lightcap, a longtime OpenAI executive, said on Tuesday that he was leaving the company after eight years to start a new venture, the latest in a string of departures from the artificial intelligence start-up.
Mr. Lightcap offered little detail about the new venture. He joined OpenAI in 2018 and had become its chief financial officer before being appointed chief operating officer in 2022. He held that job until April, when he moved into a new role focused on “special projects.”
“It is bittersweet to share that I’ll be moving on from OpenAI to start something new,” he wrote in a note to employees that he also posted on social media.
His exit follows a wave of recent turnover in OpenAI’s upper ranks. Fidji Simo, who served as second in command to OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman, stepped down last month over health issues. Kate Rouch, the chief marketing officer, said she was stepping down in April to focus on cancer recovery. Kevin Weil, who oversaw science research after serving as chief product officer, left the company the same month.
The turnover is happening as OpenAI prepares to go public. In June, the San Francisco company filed confidentially for an initial public offering but has leaned toward holding off on the event until next year.
Mr. Lightcap and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft in 2023, claiming copyright infringement of news content related to A.I. systems. The two companies have denied those claims.)