In recent years, the AI revolution sparked by ChatGPT has ignited the "Silicon Valley fire." OpenAI, the creator behind ChatGPT, recently launched its next-generation model, "o1," capable of "thinking and reasoning like humans," capturing attention in the AI field once again. As a leading company in artificial intelligence, OpenAI not only continuously incubates and innovates AI technologies but also serves as a "base" for talent cultivation. Many individuals who have departed from OpenAI have taken their skills and experiences to new ventures, establishing what could be considered the "new gang" of Silicon Valley after the infamous PayPal mafia. Today, let's explore ten entrepreneurs who ventured out on their own after leaving OpenAI.
Dario Amodei
Dario Amodei joined OpenAI in July 2016, leading the AI safety team and later serving as VP of the research team, publishing numerous papers. He was one of the key figures responsible for setting the overall research direction and developing the roadmaps, overseeing the creation of GPT-2 and GPT-3. Due to disagreements over OpenAI's direction, particularly concerns about Microsoft's initial $1 billion investment pushing it towards a more commercial focus, he left in 2021. Along with VP of Safety Policy Daniela Amodei, he aimed to establish an AI company with different values, founding Anthropic, which focuses on creating "reliable, interpretable, and controllable" AI systems centered around human interests. Anthropic developed the Claude language model, recognized as one of the best in the field, supported by Amazon and Google.
Former Position at OpenAI: VP of Research Team
Company Founded: Anthropic (Generative AI Company)
Valuation: Over $18 billion
Pieter Abbeel
Pieter Abbeel joined OpenAI in June 2016 and co-founded Covariant with three Chinese Ph.D. students in 2017. The core technology of Covariant employs deep learning to control robots, providing intelligent robotic solutions for the manufacturing industry. Their precision grasping technology enables robots to efficiently handle logistics tasks. Abbeel is also a professor in AI at UC Berkeley, focusing on deep reinforcement learning. As of April 2024, Covariant has completed its Series C funding, raising a total of $222 million with a valuation of $625 million. In September 2024, Amazon announced hiring three co-founders, including Abbeel, from Covariant, along with about a quarter of its workforce, to bolster its robotics team.
Former Position at OpenAI: Director of Research
Company Founded: Covariant (AI Robotics Company)
Total Funding: $222 million
Valuation: $625 million
Jeff Arnold
Jeff Arnold served as COO at OpenAI in 2016 before founding Pilot, a fintech company focused on tax management systems for businesses. Although Pilot's services don't directly involve AI, the company strategically employs AI to enhance product performance, such as using supervised learning to detect anomalies in financial data. Arnold is a serial entrepreneur, having previously co-founded the chat application Zulip, which was acquired by Dropbox in 2014, and the enterprise software company Ksplice, acquired by Oracle in 2011.
Former Position at OpenAI: COO
Company Founded: Pilot (FinTech Company)
David Luan
David Luan joined early OpenAI in 2017, where he worked on new research areas and developed OpenAI's first performance system. After leaving for Google in 2020, he co-founded Adept with colleagues Parmar and Vaswani. Adept, which recently raised $350 million in Series B funding, aims to enhance productivity through generative AI. Its valuation exceeds $1 billion, with Nvidia as one of its investors.
Former Position at OpenAI: VP of Engineering
Company Founded: Adept (Generative AI Company)
Maddie Hall
Living Carbon, based in San Francisco, focuses on developing plants that can capture and store more carbon. Although not directly related to AI, Maddie Hall's experience at OpenAI highlighted the importance of social value in technology. The company aims to grow trees faster by creating optimal conditions in laboratories and using CRISPR technology for genetic improvements.
Former Position at OpenAI: Special Projects Manager
Company Founded: Living Carbon (Climate Biotech Company)
Jonas Schneider
Jonas Schneider spent about three years at OpenAI, where he led the robotics team and contributed to software engineering. After leaving, he founded Daedalus, focusing on AI robotics technology for customized production in factories. Schneider believes that simplifying robot programming can significantly enhance their efficiency in large-scale manufacturing.
Former Position at OpenAI: Technical Lead
Company Founded: Daedalus (Robotics Startup)
Matt Krisiloff
Krisiloff was one of OpenAI's founding team members and later led research at Y Combinator. In 2018, he founded Conception, a health tech startup focused on using stem cell technology to cultivate human eggs to address reproductive health issues. The company has secured $40 million in funding from notable investors.
Former Position at OpenAI: OG Team Member
Company Founded: Conception (Health Tech Company)
Josh Tobin and Vicki Cheung
Vicki Cheung, one of OpenAI's founding engineers, helped manage lab resources and tech development. In 2020, she and Josh Tobin founded Gantry, dedicated to machine learning operations (MLOps) to enhance AI training and deployment.
Former Positions at OpenAI: Research Scientist; Founding Engineer and Infrastructure Lead
Company Founded: Gantry (MLOps Company)
Funding Amount: $28.3 million
Tim Shi
Tim Shi, a Tsinghua University graduate, co-founded Cresta, aimed at improving work efficiency through AI coaching. The company has received multiple rounds of funding from renowned venture capital firms.
Former Position at OpenAI: Technical Staff
Company Founded: Cresta (AI Coaching Company)
Aravind Srinivas
Former Position at OpenAI: Research Scientist
Company Founded: Perplexity (AI Search Engine Company)
Before founding Perplexity, Aravind Srinivas worked at OpenAI and Google, gaining extensive AI research experience. Launched in August 2022, Perplexity aims to transform user search experiences with a generative search engine that provides direct answers rather than lists of links, ensuring accuracy and relevance in real time.
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