OpenAI’s search for a chief communications officer has now stretched to nine months, after former CCO Hannah Wong left in January 2026 and the role stayed empty. The company has since turned to executive search firm Daversa Partners as it tries to find the right person.
The delay matters because OpenAI has spent much of 2026 moving from one public problem to another. The company has faced a controversial deal with the Pentagon, a courtroom fight with Elon Musk, a swarm of agents that hacked Hugging Face, and an Apple lawsuit alleging trade-secrets theft. Fortune reported that OpenAI’s corporate reputation has taken a hit and that public trust in AI is cratering.
OpenAI’s top choice for the job, Jill Hazelbaker of Uber, turned down the role in the spring, according to a source familiar with the search. Hazelbaker has been at Uber for almost 11 years and was promoted in May to President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. Another source said she makes a large amount of money at Uber and has family ties on the East Coast, making the move difficult.
The company has not stood still. In July, it hired Josh King as Vice President of Communications to oversee financial communications, and it has retained Brunswick Group to support IPO messaging. OpenAI is also weighing how senior the communications role should be, including whether it should report to Greg Brockman or sit lower in the chain under the Chief Marketing Officer.
That structure question is not just internal housekeeping. As Paul Argenti of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business told Fortune, the issue is whether recurring reputation challenges lead investors to assign a higher risk premium, which would mean a lower IPO valuation. Sam Altman has said the company will not go public before 2027, and OpenAI is reportedly exploring a private round that could value it at as much as $1.5 trillion.
The numbers come first. A company that is preparing for a public market debut cannot afford to treat communications as an afterthought, especially when trust is weakening and the market is watching every move. Open enterprise rewards clear rules, stable messaging, and leaders who understand that capital does not like uncertainty.
Power leaves a paper trail, and in OpenAI’s case the trail now runs through nine months of vacancy, a rejected top candidate, and a search process still trying to decide who should answer to whom. For investors, that is not just a personnel issue. It is a preview of the governance burden that can follow a high-profile IPO.
