OpenAI Executive Kevin Weil to Depart from the Company

Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s former chief product officer who was recently assigned to develop a new AI workspace for researchers, Prism, is departing the organization, WIRED has confirmed. Weil previously held an early executive role focusing on product at Instagram.

“Today marks my final day at OpenAI, as OpenAI for Science is transitioning to other research teams,” Weil stated in a social media update on Friday, shortly after WIRED reported his exit. “These past two years have been mind-expanding, starting as Chief Product Officer, then joining the research team and launching OpenAI for Science.”

Weil did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

OpenAI is also discontinuing Prism, which was introduced as a web application in January to provide scientists with improved AI collaboration tools. The approximately 10-person team supporting it is being integrated under OpenAI’s Codex leader, Thibault Sottiaux, with plans to merge Prism’s features into the desktop Codex app. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed these changes, indicating that this is part of the company’s plan to align its business and product strategies. OpenAI has wider aspirations to evolve Codex, its AI coding tool, into an “everything app.”

Weil, who joined OpenAI in June 2024, revealed last September that he would initiate a new project called OpenAI for Science. Now, OpenAI is distributing those employees across the company’s product, research, and infrastructure divisions. An OpenAI spokesperson emphasized the organization’s commitment to accelerating scientific advancement, highlighting it as a significant way AI can positively impact humanity. Earlier on Friday, the company unveiled a new series of AI models—GPT-Rosalind—designed to assist life sciences researchers in working more efficiently.

OpenAI is attempting to refocus on several key sectors, such as enterprise solutions and coding, as the company encounters rising competition from rivals like Anthropic and prepares to file for an IPO later this year. In March, OpenAI’s AGI deployment CEO, Fidji Simo, informed staff that the company must streamline its product offerings. This initiative to redirect resources toward more impactful projects led to the discontinuation of the Sora video-generation app.

In unrelated news, two additional executives announced their departure from OpenAI on Friday. Srinivas Narayanan, OpenAI’s chief technology officer of enterprise applications, shared internally that he is leaving to spend time with his family. Narayanan had initially joined OpenAI as the VP of engineering. Bill Peebles, who led Sora, also announced on X that he is finished with OpenAI.

The exits of Weil, Peebles, and Narayanan are part of a broader trend of executive changes at OpenAI. The organization recently underwent a significant restructuring of its executive team while Simo took medical leave to focus on her health. In the same announcement, OpenAI revealed that cofounder and president Greg Brockman would temporarily oversee the company’s products, and chief marketing officer Kate Rouch would also take a leave of absence due to medical concerns. Furthermore, chief operating officer Brad Lightcap transitioned to a “special projects” role amid the reorganization.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared to acknowledge these transitions in a recent blog post. “I recognize that OpenAI is now a significant platform, no longer just a scrappy startup, and we need to operate in a more predictable manner going forward,” he wrote. “These past few years have been intensely chaotic and high-pressure.”