OpenAI has declared significant organizational changes and a new strategic partnership on Monday, June 10.
The company announced the hiring of Sarah Friar as Chief Financial Officer and Kevin Weil as Chief Product Officer. Concurrently, OpenAI revealed a collaboration with Apple to integrate ChatGPT into various Apple operating systems, enhancing the capabilities of Siri and other Apple services.
Sarah Friar, formerly the CEO of Nextdoor and the finance chief at Square, will now oversee OpenAI’s finance team. Her role will focus on supporting the company’s mission through investments in research capabilities and scaling operations to adapt to a complex global market. Friar’s extensive background includes a co-chair position at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
Kevin Weil, joining from Planet Labs where he served as president, brings a rich history of leadership in tech, having held senior positions at Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. At OpenAI, Weil will lead a product team dedicated to transforming research into consumer, developer, and business-oriented products and services.
The partnership with Apple introduces ChatGPT into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, scheduled for updates later this year. This integration will allow Apple users to leverage ChatGPT’s advanced capabilities, including image and document understanding and enhanced text generation, directly within Apple’s Writing Tools.
Furthermore, Siri will be able to utilize ChatGPT’s processing power to improve its functionality. Apple ensures user privacy by requiring user consent before utilizing ChatGPT for processing questions, documents, or photos, and the answers will be presented directly by Siri.
This announcement comes as OpenAI continues to navigate the challenges and controversies surrounding the rapid growth of AI technologies. Concerns about oversight and the pace of industry advancements were highlighted in a recent open letter from OpenAI employees, underscoring the need for effective governance in the AI sector.
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