An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for TIME and Brian Lawless – Pool/Getty Images
- OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar emailed investors the day after three top execs suddenly left, per CNBC.
- Friar sought to soothe investor worries, saying the firm is still “laser-focused” on AI that can bring them returns.
- OpenAI has been seeking a $150 billion valuation, and Friar said its first investing round is oversubscribed.
OpenAI’s chief financial officer, Sarah Friar, is trying to assure investors that the company is still in good hands despite the sudden exit of three top executives, according to an email reported by CNBC.
The outlet’s Kate Rooney cited an email from Friar to OpenAI investors on Thursday night, a day after the firm saw the departure of its chief technology officer, Mira Murati.
Two other leaders, VP of Research for Post Training Barret Zoph and Chief Research Officer Bob McGrew, are also leaving.
Friar’s email spoke of their exits directly, saying that even after the switch-up, OpenAI still fields a “talented leadership bench.”
“While leadership changes are never easy, I want to ensure you have the full context,” she wrote, per CNBC.
She also told them that the promise of their returns was still airtight.
“Collectively, we remain laser-focused on bringing AI to everyone and building sustainable revenue models that fuel our operations and deliver value to our investors and employees,” she wrote.
Friar herself is a relatively new hire, joining the firm in June after helming Nextdoor.
OpenAI has been trying to raise a valuation of more than $150 billion. Friar wrote in her email that its current funding round of $6.5 billion looks ready to close by next week amid oversubscribed demand.
Bloomberg reported in August that Friar, in a separate memo, told employees that the funds raised would be used for computing power and operating costs.
The startup is also reported to have plans to nix its nonprofit board control and restructure into a for-profit benefit corporation.
Word of such monumental change, coupled with the influx of investors’ funds, has raised concerns about how closely OpenAI is now sticking to its original vision of building artificial generational intelligence — hyped as humanity’s next giant step in tech — for the benefit of everyone.
When Business Insider spoke to several seasoned investors in the wake of the OpenAI departures, some observed that the company seemed to be continually beset with messy internal change. Perhaps the most infamous of these episodes was when its board ousted CEO Sam Altman in November, only for him to return days later.
Still, others told BI that given OpenAI’s potential to fundamentally change how people use tech, the recent turbulence may not matter in the long run.
Murati, McGrew, and Zoph left OpenAI just a month after other top leaders stepped away from the company in August.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular office hours.
