OpenAI Hires Uber's Jill Hazelbaker as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

OpenAI named Jill Hazelbaker chief corporate affairs officer on November 3, handing the Uber president a remit that reaches well beyond media relations into reputation, brand, social media, cultural partnerships and convenings.

Hazelbaker will report to OpenAI president Greg Brockman and start in early December, according to details OpenAI supplied to Fortune. She arrives after a leadership gap: chief communications officer Hannah Wong left in January 2026, and Chris Lehane ran communications in the interim.

The announcement says Hazelbaker will lead global communications and corporate positioning, working with senior management to improve public understanding. What it does not say is equally telling. OpenAI specified no new policies, no organizational targets and no changes to agency relationships, headcount or crisis-response structure.

What does the appointment change for practitioners?

For communications teams, the significance lies in the breadth of the design. A press office reacts to questions and manages coverage. Corporate affairs with this scope coordinates how a company speaks to policymakers, customers, partners and communities affected by AI — audiences that never open a press release.

Axios reported that her responsibilities cover reputation, brand, social media, cultural and community partnerships, and convenings. That is a portfolio, not a promise. Whether it produces results depends on decisions made throughout the business, not on the org chart.

Why crisis experience mattered

Hazelbaker spent more than a decade at Uber, most recently as president and chief corporate affairs officer, running communications, marketing, public policy, safety and people teams. Uber navigated political, labor and reputation pressures while expanding internationally, and OpenAI credits her with helping build the capabilities that supported that growth.

Her earlier roles span Snap, Google and John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. That mix of technology, policy and political campaigning is what OpenAI is buying: an operator familiar with overlapping crises rather than a media-relations specialist.

Brockman said: "As AI becomes part of more people's lives, how we communicate, engage, and earn public trust has never been more important." Read carefully. That is a statement of importance, not a commitment to any measurable outcome.

Hazelbaker said in the announcement that building public trust has never been more consequential. Same caveat applies. Trust is an objective here, not a reported metric. It would need evidence: whether concerns are addressed promptly, whether executives explain material decisions, and whether public statements match product and policy changes.

What communications teams should take from the move

• Define the cross-functional owner. When communications, policy and safety issues overlap, someone must coordinate the response and operational leaders must approve the underlying facts. Hazelbaker's remit illustrates that design.
• Separate reputation activity from evidence. A briefing, a community event or an executive interview demonstrates engagement. It does not prove trust. Report issue resolution and stakeholder feedback alongside activity counts.
• Plan for decisions before statements. If a response depends on product, policy or personnel changes, the communications leader needs direct access to those decision-makers. Otherwise public teams answer for commitments they cannot deliver.

Governments, customers, publishers and employees weigh AI's benefits against privacy, intellectual-property and safety concerns. A centralized corporate affairs function can organize those conversations. It cannot satisfy every audience, and no message will.

The structural lesson is real: corporate affairs is now a strategic executive function at the largest AI company, with a seat close to the president. The practical test comes later, when an issue demands both a message and an operational response at the same time.

Until then, this is a senior point of accountability for external positioning — and an open question about what OpenAI does next.