OpenAI hires Uber President Jill Hazelbaker to lead communications, filling key role after 10 months - Fortune
By Google News AI ·
OpenAI has hired one of Uber’s highest ranking executives to oversee its global communications efforts, filling a key role that had been vacant for nearly a year as the AI company navigates a challenging political landscape and moves closer to an initial public offering.
Jill Hazelbaker is joining OpenAI as chief corporate affairs officer, the company announced on Tuesday. Hazelbaker, who had been president and chief corporate affairs officer at ride hailing giant Uber, will work alongside OpenAI’s leaders to “deepen public understanding of AI and strengthen trust in its mission,” the company said.
She will report to OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman and starts in early December, OpenAI told Fortune.
“As AI becomes part of more people’s lives, how we communicate, engage, and earn public trust has never been more important,” Brockman said in the announcement, citing Hazelbaker’s experience and understanding of the “opportunities and responsibilities that come with building technology at global scale.”
Hazelbaker is a well respected communications professional in the technology industry. She has served as Uber’s President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for the past 11 years, and previously held senior leadership roles at Snap and Google. She is replacing Hannah Wong, who served as OpenAI’ chief communications officer (CCO) until January 2026. Since then, OpenAI’s Chris Lehane has been leading the team in the interim.
In the ten months since Wong’s departure, OpenAI has experienced a series of public controversies—most notably when its AI agents hacked the company Hugging Face during training in July. The 11-year old company has been criticized for not being sufficiently transparent and communicative about its operations, at a time when public…
Originally published by Google News AI