As the competition for AI talent with tech giants such as Google, Meta, and Anthropic intensifies, OpenAI has once again experienced a notable high-level change. The company's Chief Talent Officer Diane Villagra has announced her departure on Friday.
Villagra joined OpenAI last year and was promoted to Chief Talent Officer by CEO Sam Altman in March of this year. Her departure comes after a series of executive restructurings within the company. Previously, Fidji Simo, a senior executive from Meta and a former Instacart employee, joined OpenAI in a senior position and has played an increasingly important role in its consumer and product strategies.
This personnel change occurs during a critical period for OpenAI's business expansion. The company is actively expanding its business from its iconic ChatGPT chatbot into the enterprise sector and restructuring into a nonprofit organization to meet a key requirement of a $4 billion funding round led by SoftBank.
The pressure on OpenAI's talent has also become more evident. In June of this year, CEO Altman publicly stated that Meta had attempted to poach OpenAI employees with signing bonuses as high as $1 billion and higher annual salary packages. Andrew Bosworth, Meta's Chief Technology Officer, later confirmed that OpenAI had rejected Meta's offer.
