OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar is working to reassure investors that the highly valued AI startup remains strong and is on track to finalize a major funding round soon, despite recent high-profile departures.
In an email to investors obtained by CNBC, Friar addressed the resignation of Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, who announced her departure on Wednesday. That same day, Sam Altman revealed that two senior research leaders, Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph, were also leaving the company.
“I wanted to personally reach out following the news of Mira’s departure from OpenAI,” Friar wrote in the letter, which was viewed by CNBC. “While leadership changes are never easy, I want to ensure you have the full context.”
Friar added that, “We are incredibly proud of everything she’s helped build,” and said the San Francisco-based company still has a “talented leadership bench” to compete.
OpenAI, backed by Microsoft and recently partnered with Apple on AI for iPhones, is nearing the close of a $6.5 billion funding round, which is expected to value the company at approximately $150 billion, according to sources familiar with the situation. Thrive Capital is leading the round, with plans to invest $1 billion, sources say.
In an email, CFO Sarah Friar mentioned that the round is oversubscribed and is expected to close by next week. She also stated that the company plans to host a series of investor calls to introduce key leaders from the product and research teams.
“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,” Friar wrote. The company is “excited for you to be with us as we enter our next chapter,” she wrote.
OpenAI declined to comment on the email.
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Murati’s departure comes after six and a half years at OpenAI, where she briefly served as interim CEO last year following the board’s sudden decision to fire Sam Altman. After Altman was swiftly reinstated, Murati resumed her position as Chief Technology Officer.
OpenAI has already been dealing with the exit of several key executives. Co-founder John Schulman and safety chief Jan Leike left to join competitor Anthropic, co-founder Ilya Sutskever departed to launch a new AI venture, and another co-founder, Greg Brockman, is currently on a leave of absence.
In the email, CFO Sarah Friar announced that Mark Chen will take over as senior vice president of research. She also highlighted leaders like Kevin Weil, who came from Meta, and Srinivas Narayanan as being well-positioned to drive continued innovation.
Friar, previously CEO of Nextdoor and CFO at Block (formerly Square), has been playing a key role in OpenAI’s leadership.
During an all-hands meeting on Thursday, Altman refuted reports that he was set to receive a significant equity stake in the company, calling such claims “just not true,” according to an attendee. Altman and Friar also acknowledged that investors have expressed concerns about Altman not holding equity in the company he co-founded nearly nine years ago, said the source, who requested anonymity as the meeting was intended for employees only.
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