Sam Altman led OpenAI has appointed political veteran Chris Lehane as the company's vice president of global policy. According to a report by the New York Times, Lehane is a member of the executive team at OpenAI. This appointment comes on the heels of reports regarding Apple and Nvidia's ongoing talks to invest in OpenAI as part of a new fundraising round. It is possible that this fundraising round might value the Microsoft backed startup above $100 billion. The Financial Times had also recently reported that the ChatGPT maker is weighing changes to its corporate structure to become more investor-friendly.
As OpenAI has developed more advanced artificial intelligence technologies, it has also cautioned about their potential risks. Facing scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and international stakeholders, the organisation is under pressure to prevent these technologies from causing significant harm. Concerns among researchers include the potential for AI systems to be used for spreading misinformation, initiating cyberattacks, or even posing existential threats to humanity.
Amidst all this, a spokeswoman for OpenAI, Liz Bourgeois, 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 organisation,” as reported by the New York Times.
Why Chris Lehane?
Chris Lehane has held a role similar to this at Airbnb, where he served in the Clinton White House as a lawyer and spokesman. During his time there, Lehane specialised in opposition research. While working for then US President Bill Clinton, he earned the title of being “the master of disaster.”
Lehane has also been worked at Haun Ventures, a venture capital firm. After having these stints, Lehane worked with OpenAI as a consultant, during which he supported Sam Altman during his oust and return to OpenAI. Post this power struggle, OpenAI officially hired Lehane as the vice president of public works. While working at this position, he worked alongside OpenAI's vice president of global affairs, Anna Makanju, a three year veteran of the company.
Makanju has moved on to a new role as vice president of global impact while leading efforts to ensure that OpenAI's technology are widely available to to all kinds of people across the globe. However, she will continue to work with Lehane on policy and will remain to be a key company liaison to government and partner organisations across the world. Lehane will now be filling in the shoes of Makanju.
Lehane could assist in navigating an increasingly intricate social and political environment.