--- title: Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to... description: Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI's longest-serving executives, is departing the company to start a new venture. Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018, serving first as... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’ | daily.dev og:description: Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI's longest-serving executives, is departing the company to start a new venture. Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018, serving first as... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/UFdFCRP5u.png og:image:alt: Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’ og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’ **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI's longest-serving executives, is departing the company to start a new venture. Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018, serving first as CFO and then as COO from 2022 before transitioning to lead special projects earlier this year. In an internal message shared publicly, he credited his time building OpenAI's core business operations and hinted at a future project tied to challenges he sees ahead for AI's mission. His departure is part of a broader wave of executive exits at OpenAI, which also recently saw Fidji Simo, Bill Peebles, and Kevin Weil leave, as the company prepares for a significant IPO. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What roles did Brad Lightcap hold at OpenAI before leaving? Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018 and spent four years as CFO before becoming COO in 2022. He served as COO until earlier in the year when an executive shakeup moved him to lead special projects. Before OpenAI, he worked with CEO Sam Altman at Y Combinator. _Developers tracking OpenAI's leadership changes and their impact on AI products can follow the story on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [OpenAI is bringing on some big guns in the lead-up to its IPO](https://daily.dev/posts/openai-is-bringing-on-some-big-guns-in-the-lead-up-to-its-ipo-fcfep9aoq) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Who really runs OpenAI now?](https://daily.dev/posts/who-really-runs-openai-now--vjoxf7keu) · The Verge · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#leadership](https://daily.dev/tags/leadership) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T17:43:11.322Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:29:40.388Z","description":"Brad Lightcap, one of OpenAI's longest-serving executives, is departing the company to start a new venture. Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018, serving first as...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7a241097786e9dfc53a853b9a3acda40?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/7a241097786e9dfc53a853b9a3acda40?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCrunch","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCrunch","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tc","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,openai,leadership","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCrunch","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s longtime COO, is leaving to ‘start something new’"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/brad-lightcap-openai-s-longtime-coo-is-leaving-to-start-something-new--ufdfcrp5u#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What roles did Brad Lightcap hold at OpenAI before leaving?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018 and spent four years as CFO before becoming COO in 2022. He served as COO until earlier in the year when an executive shakeup moved him to lead special projects. Before OpenAI, he worked with CEO Sam Altman at Y Combinator. Developers tracking OpenAI's leadership changes and their impact on AI products can follow the story on daily.dev."}}]} ```