The parent company of ChatGPT has hired attorney Ann O’Leary — a former top aide to both Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and failed 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton — to be its vice president of global policy.
Jenner & Block, a law firm where O’Leary served as a partner, announced in a Jan. 13 press release that she would be joining OpenAI to “lead global policy efforts.” Newsom appointed O’Leary as his chief of staff following his 2018 election victory, a role she held until her resignation in December 2020.
Prior to working in the Newsom administration, O’Leary worked as Hillary Clinton’s legislative director in the Senate and her senior policy advisor during the 2016 presidential election, according to her biography on the website of the California Partners Project — a nonprofit led by Newsom’s wife. O’Leary also worked as a policy advisor on former President Bill Clinton’s White House Domestic Policy Council.
O’Leary will “lead global policy efforts” for OpenAI, in a role which Jenner & Block stated is “newly created.”
Conservative podcaster Katie Miller replied to the announcement on X, asking, “Why are all their senior leaders anti-Trump liberals?”
Elon Musk, who is a co-founder and former financial backer of OpenAI, replied to the post, “WokeGPT.”
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has the overwhelming majority of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot market share according to multiple recent studies.
The company has received criticism in the past for ChatGPT‘s past actions, including a case from May 2025 when a 18-year-old died of a drug overdose after receiving advice from the chatbot.
OpenAI announced a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in June 2025, vowing to make government employees “more empowered, more efficient, and more supported in their critical missions.”
OpenAI did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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