Longtime OpenAI executive Brad Lightcap is leaving the company to start something new, he told employees Tuesday.Why it matters: It's the latest executive departure from the company and another example of an early employee leaving an AI lab to start their own thing. What they're saying: "It is bittersweet to share that I'll be moving on from OpenAI to start something new," Lightcap wrote in a message to employees that he posted on X.He will stay at OpenAI for a few weeks and said he's "not going far" without offering much detail. Lightcap reported directly to CEO Sam Altman, covering special projects after being moved out of the COO role in an in April when Thinking Machines Barret Zoph returned to OpenAI. Zoph left OpenAI five months later. Zoom in: Lightcap is just the latest OpenAI executive to leave the firm. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's number two executive, stepped down over health issues in July, though she has since joined an AI health startup. OpenAI's head of ethics also left the company this week less than a year after joining. The company's CMO also recently left to focus on her recovery from cancer. Zoom out: It comes amid a broader trend of longtime AI executives and even founders leaving their firms. The latest high profile example is Jeff Dean, who left Google to start Discovery Loop.Lilian Weng, a co-founder of Thinking Machines, left to rejoin OpenAI.The bottom line: The AI race's talent reshuffle continues.