Hazelbaker will lead OpenAI’s global communications and corporate positioning, working with leaders across the company to promote public understanding of AI and trust in the company’s mission, according to the release.
The release highlighted Hazelbaker’s nearly 20 years of experience advising tech companies and political leaders. At Uber, she helped lead the company’s transformation from startup to global technology platform, per the release.
“As AI becomes part of more people’s lives, how we communicate, engage and earn public trust has never been more important,” OpenAI Co-Founder and President Greg Brockman said in the release. “Jill brings exceptional judgment, seasoned leadership and a deep understanding of the opportunities and responsibilities that come with building technology at global scale.”
Hazelbaker joined Uber in November 2015 as vice president of policy and communications, later served in two other roles and became president and chief corporate affairs officer in May, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Before joining Uber, Hazelbaker held communications and public policy roles at Snapchat and Google, was press secretary for the Mike Bloomberg for Mayor campaign and was national communications director for the John McCain for President campaign, per the profile.
In OpenAI’s Tuesday press release, Hazelbaker said: “AI represents the most profound technological shift of our lifetime. The stakes are enormous, the possibilities are extraordinary and the work of building public trust has never been more consequential.”
It was reported in June that after heavily betting on President Donald Trump and his administration’s initial laissez-faire approach to AI development, the tech industry was reeling from the administration’s sudden and unexpected decision to create a vetting system for AI models and possibly impose export restrictions on the most powerful ones.
In September, OpenAI published an article in which it said the United States should lead an international effort to develop global technical standards for frontier AI. The company said recursive self-improvement could result in humans losing control over AI development if this fully autonomous development of AI outpaces humans’ ability to understand it.
