OpenAI CPO Julia Villagra Steps Down Amid AI Talent Competition

Julia Villagra, OpenAI's Chief People Officer, is departing the company on August 22, 2025, after joining in early 2024 and quickly rising to the CPO role. She is leaving to pursue her passion for art, music, and storytelling as means to help people understand the transition toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), where machines outperform humans in most economically valuable tasks. Her responsibilities will temporarily be managed by Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon, while CEO of Applications Fidji Simo leads the search for her successor. Villagra's exit occurs amidst fierce competition for AI talent, with Meta reportedly offering $100 million signing bonuses to attract OpenAI employees, as OpenAI prepares for a potential employee share sale valuing the company at $500 billion. The departure also highlights ongoing executive turnover at OpenAI during a critical period of growth and public concern about AI's impact on employment. Despite the challenges, OpenAI continues to push forward in the AI sector under CEO Sam Altman.