Lehane held a similar role at Airbnb and worked in the Clinton White House as a lawyer and spokesman specializing in opposition research. He earned a reputation as the “master of disaster” during his time working for President Bill Clinton.
As OpenAI has built increasingly powerful artificial intelligence technologies, it has warned of their potential danger and is under pressure from lawmakers, regulators and others around the world to ensure that these technologies do not cause serious harm. Some researchers fear that AI systems could be used to spread disinformation, foment cyberattacks or even destroy humanity.
Lehane could help navigate an increasingly complex social and political landscape. Through a spokeswoman, she declined to comment.
Liz Bourgeois, a spokesperson for OpenAI, said: “Just as the company is making changes in other areas of the business to scale the impact of various teams as we enter this next chapter, we recently made changes to our global affairs organization.”
OpenAI is negotiating a new funding deal that would value the company at more than $100 billion, three people familiar with the talks said. The deal would be led by investment firm Thrive Capital, which would invest more than $1 billion.
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The deal could also include investments from Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia, whose specialized computing chips are important to AI development. As part of these negotiations, OpenAI is also considering changing its corporate structure to make it more attractive to investors, according to three other people familiar with the talks. OpenAI began in 2015 as a nonprofit. Right now, its board of directors retains control of the organization, with no official input from investors.
In November, OpenAI’s board fired its chief executive, Sam Altman, and investors had no official way to pressure the company. Altman was reinstated five days later, after Microsoft, one of OpenAI’s investors, offered to hire his entire staff. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging copyright infringement of content related to AI systems.)
In the nine months since then, OpenAI has expanded its board of directors and hired several veteran Silicon Valley executives. After stints at Airbnb and Haun Ventures, a venture capital firm, Lehane had been advising OpenAI since last year and supported Altman when the CEO made his way back to OpenAI in November. The company officially hired Lehane this year as vice president of public works.
In that role, she worked alongside OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, Anna Makanju, a three-year veteran of the company who helped organize a world tour for Altman last year in which he met with many heads of state. Makanju has moved on to a new role as vice president of global impact, leading efforts to ensure the company’s AI technologies are broadly available to all types of people around the world. She will continue to work with Lehane on policy and remain a key liaison for the company with governments and partner organizations around the world.
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