OpenAI's executive exodus has one big winner

OpenAI's executive exodus has one big winner

Author: The Verge August 27, 2026 Duration: 40:40
Today, I’m talking with Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, about some pure Decoder bait: the seemingly-endless org chart changes at OpenAI, and how all of them seem to consolidate power under cofounder Greg Brockman, the company’s president. While Sam Altman is the CEO and still OpenAI’s most public face, Brockman has amassed enormous power and influence within the top ranks of the company as other senior leaders have left in rapid succession. So I wanted Hayden to break down for me what’s going on at OpenAI, and the increasingly important role Greg Brockman will play in its future. Read the full interview transcript on The Verge. Links:  It’s Greg Brockman’s OpenAI now | The Verge OpenAI’s Brockman brushes off concerns about leadership changes | CNBC Sam Altman on building OpenAI & betting on the impossible | David Senra OpenAI’s Q2 sales show tepid growth compared to Anthropic | WSJ Anthropic's revenue run rate reportedly surpasses $65 billion pre-IPO | Axios OpenAI President On Reinventing Computers | Johanna Stern / YouTube Greg Brockman takes control of OpenAI’s products in latest shake-up | Wired OpenAI’s president is a Trump mega-donor | The Verge Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Greg Ott, Kate Cox, and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Ursa Wright. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the intersection of power, innovation, and consequence, you'll find Decoder with Nilay Patel. Hosted by The Verge's editor-in-chief, this isn't a typical business or technology podcast that simply recites the news. Instead, Nilay engages with founders, CEOs, legislators, and artists in substantive conversations that dissect the mechanics behind major decisions. The dialogue focuses on the real-world implications of big ideas, probing how today's choices in boardrooms and legislatures ripple out into society tomorrow. You'll hear guests articulate their toughest challenges, the trade-offs they've made, and the often-unseen forces shaping industries from social media and artificial intelligence to transportation and entertainment. Each episode is built on a foundation of genuine curiosity, aiming to unpack not just what is happening, but why it matters for the way we all live and work. Listening to this podcast feels like gaining access to a nuanced, behind-the-scenes briefing where strategy and philosophy collide. It's for anyone who suspects that the most important stories aren't the announcements themselves, but the human decisions, the unforeseen problems, and the ethical calculations that happen long before the headlines are written. Through these detailed conversations, Decoder provides a crucial lens on the architects of our modern world and the complex systems they are building, for better or worse.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Decoder with Nilay Patel
Podcast Episodes
Bose CEO Lila Snyder on the fight for high-quality audio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:34
My guest today is Lila Snyder, the CEO of Bose. Lila was last on the show about four years ago, and since then she’s dramatically rearchitected the company — she sold off Bose Professional, acquired the high end audio br…
The left and right agree on one thing: no data centers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:33
Our guest today is Gaby Del Valle, a policy reporter here at The Verge, and we’re discussing the growing backlash against AI data centers. Gaby recently reported a fantastic piece about Hernando County, Florida, where la…
Bluesky’s new CEO wants a big tent, not a bubble [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:28
Today, I’m talking with Toni Schneider, the new head of social platform Bluesky who formally took over after a short stint as interim CEO. This is one of my favorite kinds of interviews, because a couple years ago we had…
The end of the human internet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:04
Hey everyone, this is Nick Statt, senior producer on Decoder. We’re taking a brief publishing break while Nilay is out on vacation. We’ll resume regular programming next week, and we’ve got some great episodes in the wor…
Tariffs didn’t bring manufacturing jobs back to the US [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:50
Evan Smith, cofounder and CEO of Altana, was last on the show in early 2025 to talk about how Trump’s first few waves of tariffs were starting to affect global trade. It was a very alarming and also very illuminating cha…
What Apple’s OpenAI lawsuit is really about [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:05
Today, I’m talking with Hayden Field, The Verge’s senior AI reporter, about the major trade secrets lawsuit between Apple and OpenAI, and what this tells us about OpenAI’s future. Hayden has been covering OpenAI for year…
Dr. Jill Lepore on why the AI backlash is vital for the future [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:35
Dr. Jill Lepore is one of the best writers there is at identifying institutional patterns in history, and Decoder is a show about systems and organization — so her new book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, is…
Proton’s CTO: No company is going to jail for you [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:15
We’ve got the first of a two-part series on the systems that run the world: I’m talking today with Bart Butler, the CTO of Proton, the company that makes private and secure productivity software. There’s a lot of big Dec…
Yes, even Nvidia's head of automotive is fighting for compute [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:56
Nvidia is obviously in the news constantly because of the AI boom — but it's also a major supplier to the entire auto industry As head of Nvidia's automotive division, Xinzhou Wu has a front-row seat to all the challenge…
Why did Comcast ever buy NBC? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:52
My guest today is Peter Kafka, chief correspondent at Business Insider and host of Channels, a podcast about the media industry. And it’s a big week for the media industry — Comcast just announced that it’s splitting its…