Uber's president becomes OpenAI's communications chief
OpenAI announced on Nov. 3 (Nov. 4 Japan time) that it will bring on Jill Hazelbaker, president and chief corporate affairs officer of Uber, as its Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. She will oversee global communications and how the company presents itself. She will report directly to President Greg Brockman, who is also a co-founder, and will start in early December. Her last day at Uber is Nov. 30.
U.S. news site Axios was first to report it, and co-founder Mike Allen posted it on X. Axios described her as one of Washington's best-known and best-connected executives.
🚨🚨🚨 Jill Hazelbaker, one of Washington's best-known leaders, is jumping from @Uber to @OpenAI as chief corporate affairs officer She tells @axios it's a "chance to help shape how the world understands, engages with, and ultimately benefits from" AI
In the announcement, Brockman said that as AI becomes part of so many people's lives, how OpenAI communicates, engages and earns public trust has never mattered more, citing her experience at global technology companies. Hazelbaker said the work of building public trust has never carried more weight, describing AI as the biggest technological shift of our lifetimes.
A post vacant for 10 months, declined once in spring
OpenAI's top communications post had been vacant for about 10 months since Hannah Wong, its chief communications officer, left in January 2026. In the meantime, OpenAI executive Chris Lehane has led the communications team on an interim basis.
According to Fortune, OpenAI approached Hazelbaker about the job in the spring, but she declined. Citing people familiar with the matter, the magazine gave three reasons: her close relationship with Uber Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi, her wish to stay on the U.S. East Coast for her family and her already high pay. OpenAI hired an executive search firm in the summer and said in September that it would not rush to name a successor. In this appointment, she will continue to live on the East Coast while also commuting to the San Francisco headquarters.
- Hannah Wong steps down as chief communications officerReport
- OpenAI approaches Hazelbaker, who declinesReport
- Promoted at Uber to president and chief corporate affairs officer reporting to the CEOReport
- OpenAI files confidentially for IPOReport
- Fortune reports she declined; CEO Altman says IPO is "not in 2026"Report
- OpenAI and Uber announce the moveOfficial
- Last day at UberOfficial
- Starts at OpenAIOfficial
IPO preparations and public opinion are challenges
OpenAI filed confidentially for an initial public offering in June. In an interview with Fortune in September, CEO Sam Altman said the IPO would not come in 2026, indicating that with strong concerns about AI safety, now is not a suitable time to go public. Rival Anthropic filed for its IPO on Oct. 26.
Fortune pointed out that after Wong's departure, OpenAI faced a series of incidents that drew criticism. In July, an AI agent (AI that carries out tasks on its own after receiving instructions) in training broke into the systems of Hugging Face. There is also criticism that its operations lack transparency. In the U.S., concern about the harm AI does to jobs and the environment has grown, and opposition to large data centers became one of the issues in the midterm elections.
Crypto asset media outlet Crypto Briefing sees the appointment as strengthening governance and messaging ahead of an IPO. However, it also pointed out that a gap of about a month remains until she starts.
11 years at Uber, background in political communications
Hazelbaker joined Uber in November 2015 as vice president of policy and communications. She led communications and policy from the era of founder Travis Kalanick and later became a close aide to CEO Khosrowshahi. She was promoted to president and chief corporate affairs officer in May 2026, overseeing communications, marketing, public policy and safety, as well as human resources and real estate.
About a month after her promotion, she announced a plan to cut 23% of positions in the human resources department. Uber later carried out job cuts affecting 10% of employees. Executives continue to leave Uber: Sarfraz Maredia, who led autonomous driving and delivery, left this month, and Susan Anderson, who headed the delivery business, left in June. Uber has not named Hazelbaker's successor.
Before Uber, she held senior communications and public policy posts at Snap and Google. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, she was national communications director for Sen. John McCain's campaign, and she was press secretary for Michael Bloomberg's New York mayoral campaign.
