Barret Zoph is out at OpenAI again after just five months
OpenAI's enterprise AI chief just walked. Five months in, Barret Zoph is out again—and it signals trouble in a revenue pillar the company promised investors.
Why it matters
A high-profile departure from OpenAI's leadership just months before its planned IPO raises questions about internal stability and execution on enterprise strategy—a key growth narrative for the public markets.
The key facts
6 to knowBarret Zoph departed OpenAI after 5 months as head of enterprise AI sales
Zoph had returned to OpenAI in mid-January 2026
Previously co-founder and CTO of Thinking Machines Lab (Mira Murati's competing AI company)
Enterprise and coding identified as key revenue drivers ahead of OpenAI IPO
OpenAI committed to deprioritizing non-core projects to focus on enterprise
Source: The Verge (credible reporting)
Go to the source
The Verge AItheverge.com
Publisher excerpt: Five months after returning to OpenAI, Barret Zoph - the company's head of enterprise AI sales - has departed, The Verge has learned. Zoph returned to OpenAI in mid-January after a stint as co-founder and CTO of Thinking Machines Lab, the competing AI company founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira…