Sam Altman OpenAI
OpenAI’s chief communications officer, Hannah Wong, will leave the company in January after five years. The news was shared internally on Monday, Wired reports. Wong has been a key figure at OpenAI during a time of rapid growth and public attention. She joined the company in 2021, when OpenAI was still a small research lab.
In a joint statement, CEO Sam Altman and CEO of applications Fidji Simo praised Wong’s work and impact. “Hannah has played a defining role in shaping how people understand OpenAI and the work we do,” they said. “She has an extraordinary ability to bring clarity to complex ideas, and to do it with care and grace. We’re deeply grateful for her leadership and partnership these last five years, and we wish her the very best.”
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Wong played a very important role during one of OpenAI’s most difficult moments in 2023, when Sam Altman was briefly removed as CEO and then brought back. Inside the company, this period is known as “the blip.” She officially became chief communications officer in August 2024. Since then, she expanded OpenAI’s communications team.
In a draft LinkedIn post shared with WIRED, Wong said that Lindsey Held, OpenAI’s vice president of communications, will run the communications team until a new chief communications officer is hired. The search for Wong’s replacement is being led by OpenAI’s chief marketing officer, Kate Rouch.
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“These years have been intense and deeply formative,” Wong wrote. “I’m grateful I got to help tell OpenAI’s story, introduce ChatGPT and other incredible products to the world, and share more about the people forging the path to AGI during an extraordinary moment of growth and momentum.”
Wong also shared that she plans to spend more time with her husband and children as she considers what comes next in her career.