OpenAI’s 9-Month Search for a Comms Chief is Getting Complicated

OpenAI has been searching for a chief communications officer for nine months, with its top candidate declining the role and the company turning to an executive search firm as it prepares for a possible initial public offering.

The vacancy comes as the artificial intelligence company faces scrutiny over its products, business strategy, relationships with governments and the safety of increasingly capable AI systems. OpenAI has also been involved in several high-profile legal and regulatory disputes this year.

Hannah Wong, who became OpenAI’s first chief communications officer in 2024, left the company in January after nearly five years.

“After nearly five years at OpenAI and a lot of reflection, I’ve decided it’s time for me to step back and move into my next chapter,” Wong said in a January LinkedIn post announcing her departure.

The company has yet to appoint a permanent replacement. OpenAI has said it is looking for the right person rather than rushing to fill the position, according to Fortune.

Paul Argenti, who teaches corporate communications at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, said the vacancy itself does not prevent OpenAI from operating but could matter as the company deals with repeated controversies and prepares for the capital markets.

“The issue isn’t whether OpenAI can operate without a chief communications officer. They most certainly can,” Argenti told Fortune.

“The issue is whether they are going to face constant controversy, [and] whether recurring reputation challenges lead investors to assign a higher risk premium, and that would be a lower IPO valuation.”

Jill Hazelbaker, Uber’s president and chief corporate affairs officer, was OpenAI’s preferred candidate but declined the position in the spring, according to a person familiar with the search. Hazelbaker, who has worked at Uber for almost 11 years, was promoted to her current role in May.

“Jill is absolutely fantastic,” said another source who has spoken directly with OpenAI about the position, and who commented on the likely reasons the company has not been able to hire her. “She’s very mature. She has an awesome relationship with [Uber CEO] Dara [Khosrowshahi]. She makes a f*ckload of money.”

The source also said Hazelbaker’s family and location on the U.S. East Coast made the move difficult, saying “it’s really, really hard to get her because she lives in D.C. and she’s not going to move.”

OpenAI stepped up its search during the summer and hired executive search firm Daversa Partners, which has previously worked with the company, according to people familiar with the process. Daversa declined to comment.

The company has meanwhile strengthened its communications operation. In July, OpenAI hired Josh King as vice president of communications, with responsibility for financial communications, according to Fortune. It has also retained Brunswick Group to support its communications around a potential IPO.

The structure of the permanent communications role remains under discussion, according to one person familiar with the search. One question is whether the CCO would report directly to OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman or to the company’s marketing leadership.

OpenAI has also been without a chief marketing officer since Kate Rouch stepped down in April. The company has said it will search for a replacement.

“The search has been going on so long that they’re now going, ‘Okay, what are the options? What should the reporting structure be?,’” one source said. “They’re open to anything because it seems like the search so far hasn’t worked out.”

Bill Margaritis, who led communications at FedEx for 15 years, said the communications chief would need sufficient authority to advise senior management and identify risks before they develop into crises.

“A seasoned CCO would be at the table assessing risk, helping management see around corners,” Margaritis said. “They’re an early warning system for the enterprise. Crisis management requires a proactive strategy.”

The role would also have to balance communications with investors, customers, regulators and employees, Margaritis said.

“Right now there’s a perfect storm between the technology story, the safety security story, the regulatory story, and the reputation imperative.”

OpenAI has faced a series of controversies this year, including scrutiny over its work with the U.S. government and the behavior of AI agents. The company announced on Sept. 16 a framework for reporting and investigating what it calls model misalignment incidents.

OpenAI has also sought to shape the global debate over AI governance. Earlier this month, the company called for mandatory national AI safety requirements and said it supports international cooperation on standards for advanced AI systems.

OpenAI’s communications team remains active despite the absence of a permanent chief. Chris Lehane, the company’s chief global affairs officer and former communications executive at Airbnb, has been overseeing the team on an interim basis, while other executives have taken responsibility for specific areas.

The company has in recent months responded more quickly to some public controversies. After Reuters reported on Sept. 4 that OpenAI’s AI agents had used an obscure German Wikipedia page as a messaging board, the company issued a response the following day and later introduced its framework for disclosing misalignment incidents.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged that the industry has struggled to explain the benefits of AI to the public.

“It’s terrible. [AI companies] are like, ‘We are Borgs, and all we talk is Borg language,’” one source told Fortune. “Speak English and stop talking about how you’ve achieved AGI…[while] the rest of the world is like, ‘Wait, what is happening to us?’”

Altman said in a September interview with Bloomberg that the AI industry had done a “terrible job” of explaining how the technology benefits ordinary Americans.

He has also defended OpenAI’s approach to safety, saying the company would not prioritize profits over concerns about the technology’s risks.

“If you’re like ‘Oh, OpenAI is not going to pause because they’re worried about it costing their business money,'[then] you very deeply misunderstand us. So … I’m sorry that you misunderstand us because I think that means we’ve done a bad job of communicating, and that’s on us.”

The search for a permanent communications chief comes as OpenAI expands its operations and weighs its longer-term financing and public-market plans. The company has said it does not expect to pursue an IPO before 2027, according to Fortune.

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