OpenAI upheaval mounts as Sam Altman readies IPO push

OpenAI is facing mounting internal upheaval after nearly half a dozen reorganisations this year, as chief executive Sam Altman races to prepare the ChatGPT maker for a potential blockbuster IPO.

Repeated executive reshuffles and a series of senior departures have left some staff frustrated with constant changes at one of the world’s most valuable private companies, according to multiple people familiar with the moves.

This week, chief revenue officer Denise Dresser, who was appointed in December to oversee efforts to win corporate customers, announced her departure.

She follows former chief financial officer and chief operating officer Brad Lightcap and ethics chief Chloé Bakalar, who left after less than a year, the FT revealed on Monday.

OpenAI said it was moving at an exceptional pace and unafraid to make organisational changes.

Fidji Simo, who ran its applications business and was considered Altman’s number two, left her full-time role last month after a period of medical leave to become an adviser. But she has remained active behind the scenes, communicating with staff on a nearly daily basis, two people close to OpenAI said.

“She is still puppeteering in the background,” said one person familiar with the dynamic, who described senior executives as vying for Altman’s attention amid considerable internal “politics”. The company said she was conducting her advisory role as intended.

At the end of last month, OpenAI also disbanded its “preparedness” team, which assessed whether its models could pose severe or catastrophic risks and worked on ways to mitigate them, according to multiple people familiar with the move. Senior staff have instead been assigned responsibility for different areas of preparedness, such as bio and cyber, within existing teams.

OpenAI has presented these recent exits as part of a streamlining process ahead of an IPO, following Altman's directive to staff to cut back on “side quests” and focus on ChatGPT and on competing with Anthropic for business clients.

Since OpenAI’s leadership crisis in late 2023, which saw Altman ousted for less than a week, he has built a new executive team around him to professionalise the company’s operations. Co-founder Greg Brockman, seen as Altman’s most trusted lieutenant, is wielding increasing power as he steps into a vacuum left by recent departures.

Key departures from OpenAI

Senior figures who have left or stepped back

• Denise Dresser© Getty ImagesThis week said she would leave after less than a year. As chief revenue officer, she was hired to oversee efforts to win corporate clients
• Chloé Bakalar© Getty ImagesLeft as head of ethics in July 2026 after less than a year
• Brad Lightcap© Getty ImagesAnnounced departure in August 2026 after eight years at OpenAI. COO until April, then heading special projects
• Joshua Achiam© Getty ImagesDeparted in July 2026 after nearly nine years. Chief futurist, ex-head of mission alignment.
• Fidji Simo© Getty ImagesOpenAI's de facto number two executive. Stepped back in July 2026, moving to part-time advisory role after medical leave
• Kevin Weil© Getty ImagesLeft in April 2026. Ex-chief product officer, led OpenAI for Science.
• Srinivas Narayanan© Getty ImagesLeft in April 2026. CTO of B2B applications. Worked at OpenAI for three years

Denise Dresser

This week said she would leave after less than a year. As chief revenue officer, she was hired to oversee efforts to win corporate clients

Chloé Bakalar

Left as head of ethics in July 2026 after less than a year

Brad Lightcap

Announced departure in August 2026 after eight years at OpenAI. COO until April, then heading special projects

Joshua Achiam

Departed in July 2026 after nearly nine years. Chief futurist, ex-head of mission alignment.

Fidji Simo

OpenAI's de facto number two executive. Stepped back in July 2026, moving to part-time advisory role after medical leave

Kevin Weil

Left in April 2026. Ex-chief product officer, led OpenAI for Science.

Srinivas Narayanan

Left in April 2026. CTO of B2B applications. Worked at OpenAI for three years

Some staff see the management reshuffles as evidence of dysfunction during the crucial run-up to an expected IPO that could value it at as much as $1tn. OpenAI’s IPO had originally been expected this year but is now likely to be next year, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.

OpenAI has been overtaken by rival Anthropic this year. The ChatGPT maker’s annualised revenue grew from $24bn at the end of last year to about $40bn this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

But it has been leapfrogged by Anthropic, which jumped fivefold from $9bn at the end of 2025 to $47bn in May and has continued on a similar trajectory since.

Both start-ups estimate full-year revenue figures based on recent performance, though the companies account for revenues from partners differently, making direct comparison hard.

Much of OpenAI’s growth has come since the release of OpenAI’s new GPT-5.6 model five weeks ago, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Recent departures have also drawn internal attention to a pattern in which senior figures have been moved into new or loosely defined positions before leaving the company.

Lightcap was shifted in April to a role focused on “special projects”, while other senior figures including Kevin Weil and Josh Achiam have also moved into new positions before departing.

The preparedness unit was one of the remaining elements of OpenAI’s former research-led structure, following the dissolution of teams focused on “AGI readiness” and “mission alignment”.

Jan Leike, who co-led the now-defunct “superalignment” team, resigned in 2024 citing his view that safety was taking a “back seat to shiny products”.

The head of the preparedness team, Dylan Scandinaro, has moved to explore the safety implications of “recursive self-improving” AI — systems capable of improving their own capabilities and training other models, according to two people familiar with the changes. His job title change was first reported by Wired.

Brockman said OpenAI’s technical advances required “more robust” safeguards and that the company had made changes to “more deeply integrate research, safety and security” into model development.

Recommended

Tensions around OpenAI’s approach to AI safety have intensified in recent weeks after it emerged that one of its models hacked into another company during internal testing of their cyber capabilities.

The departures of Bakalar, Achiam and Johannes Heidecke, who all worked on safety, have added to internal unease.

“It is kind of scary; there is an urgency now to get this right,” one person close to OpenAI said. Another said there was a “burbling sense of responsibility and dread that they aren’t on the ball enough”.

OpenAI recently completed a near-$7bn tender offer, buying back shares from employees. In recent months, staff have been cashing out at OpenAI’s lofty $852bn valuation, with several making upwards of $10mn, according to current and former employees.

Staff were feeling “burnt out” and “frustrated” with constant reorganisations, said two of these people, pointing to the tender sale as a way out.

Some investors have expressed concern about the rate of turnover and the lack of focus at a company targeting one of the biggest IPOs of all time. Other backers characterised the changes as simplifying the executive team.

“I don’t think it’s uncommon to clean up the organisation before going public. You want to know who your people are,” said one investor with a large stake in OpenAI. “Some departures were [for] health reasons. Some is cleaning up.”

Additional reporting by Madhumita Murgia in London