Associate General Counsel, Hardware

Associate General Counsel, Hardware | OpenAI

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Associate General Counsel, Hardware

Legal - San Francisco

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We’re seeking a senior lawyer to lead legal strategy and execution across OpenAI’s fast-growing hardware portfolio—including robotics, chips/GPUs, AI devices, and large-scale infrastructure such as Stargate. This is a deeply cross-functional role that will partner closely with engineering, product, partnerships, and policy teams to shape the legal frameworks that will support OpenAI’s long-term hardware ambitions.

We’re looking for a highly experienced technology lawyer who thrives in ambiguity and wants to help define the legal playbook for frontier hardware systems in the AI era. This role reports to our Deputy General Counsel.

About the Role

• Own legal strategy and risk management for OpenAI’s work in hardware, including advanced robotics, custom chips, and next-generation compute infrastructure.
  

• Advise on commercial and strategic partnerships involving AI devices and hardware supply chains.
  

• Shape legal frameworks for the design, deployment, and operation of physical systems powered by cutting-edge AI models.
  

• Work closely with engineering and research teams to address novel legal questions around safety, liability, IP, and interoperability.
  

• Collaborate with global policy and regulatory affairs to anticipate and navigate emerging laws related to hardware-enabled AI systems.
  

• Advise on complex agreements with partners, vendors, and collaborators in the hardware ecosystem.
  

• Support long-term efforts to build scalable, compliant hardware development programs that align with OpenAI’s safety and mission goals.

Skills/experience needed

• 10+ years of legal experience, including deep exposure to hardware, semiconductor, or robotics domains.
  

• A mix of in-house and top-tier law firm experience.
  

• Expertise in technology transactions, IP strategy, and commercial contracting in a hardware context.
  

• Familiarity with global supply chains, export controls, and manufacturing regulations.
  

• Demonstrated ability to operate with autonomy and sound judgment in highly technical and fast-moving environments.
  

• Exceptional communication skills, with an ability to distill complexity into actionable, business-aligned guidance.
  

• Experience advising on cross-border deals and regulatory frameworks.
  

• Prior experience navigating product safety, liability, or compliance in regulated hardware industries is a strong plus

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

For additional information, please see OpenAI’s Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement .

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable law, including the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the California Fair Chance Act. For unincorporated Los Angeles County workers: we reasonably believe that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment: protect computer hardware entrusted to you from theft, loss or damage; return all computer hardware in your possession (including the data contained therein) upon termination of employment or end of assignment; and maintain the confidentiality of proprietary, confidential, and non-public information. In addition, job duties require access to secure and protected information technology systems and related data security obligations.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via this link .

OpenAI Global Applicant Privacy Policy

At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

Compensation

$330K – $400K

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