OpenAI, a Microsoft-backed artificial intelligence company, confirmed that human resources director Julia Villagra will leave the organization on Friday.
The decision was made just over half a year after she joined the company as head of human resources since February 2024, according to indianexpress.
According to LinkedIn's profile, Villagra was quickly promoted to the position of human resources director in March after CEO Sam altman's announcement.
However, OpenAI said it chose to leave to pursue a personal passion for art, music and storytelling to help the community better understand the transition to General AI (AGI), a stage where AI is capable of surpassing humans in most jobs of economic value.
During the time of looking for new personnel, Strategy Director Jason Kwon will temporarily take over the job of Villagra. The selection of the new Human Resources Director will be directly done by Fidji Simo, CEO of OpenAI's newly hired application.
This move comes as artificial intelligence is rapidly changing many areas of life.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey shows that 71 percent of Americans worry that AI will cause too many people to lose their jobs permanently, even though the US unemployment rate is currently at 4.2% in July and there are no signs of mass unemployment.
Along with that, OpenAI is facing a fierce battle of talent in the AI industry. Meta, led by Mark Zuckerberg, is said to have launched reward packages worth up to $100 million to attract top researchers from OpenAI.
The company is also discussing selling shares to employees, thereby raising the valuation to 500 billion USD, compared to the current 300 billion USD.
This reflects the strong growth rate in both the number of users, revenue and capital mobilization needs in the context of increasingly fierce global competition for AI research.
Julia Villagra's departure from the position of Human Resources Director not only shows the shift in senior personnel at OpenAI, but also reflects a major challenge in talent as the AI industry is entering an unprecedented period of explosive and competitive growth.
