• by Ray Schultz , August 25, 2024

OpenAI has hired Irina Kofman, a former executive at Meta Platforms Inc., to lead strategic initiatives.

The hire, which is already in place, reflects OpenAI’s desire to boost its staff with veterans of top technology firms, Bloomberg reports.

Kofman will initially focus on safety and preparedness, reporting to Mira Murati, chief technology officer at OpenAI, it continues.

The move could help publishers who have come into the OpenAI tent. 
Last week, the company signed a content-sharing agreement with Condé Nast.

At Meta, Kofman was most recently a senior director of product management for generative AI. She served at the company for five years.

The move also takes place as the industry comes to terms with the firing of CEO Sam Altman and his reinstatement. 

Board member Helen Toner, who pushed for Altman’s firing and subsequently left the board, told Financial Times in a luncheon interview last week. 

Toner added, “It’s very hard to look at what happened and conclude that self-governing is going to work at these companies. “Or that we can rely on self-governance structures to stand up to the pressures of the different kinds of power and incentives that are play here,” she continued.