'OpenAI Mafia' has raised over $1 billion: Who are they

Ever heard of the 'PayPal Mafia'? We bet you have. The members of this so-called mafia are serial tech entrepreneurs who were once associated with PayPal. They have since founded companies such as Tesla, LinkedIn, and YouTube, among others. Now, the name of another mafia is doing rounds on the internet - the 'OpenAI mafia.' The pertinent question here is, who are they?

The success of ChatGPT and its partnership with Microsoft has made OpenAI the name to beat in the AI space. At the moment, everyone else is vying for second place. OpenAI's success has made those who were formerly associated with the company very valuable. These former employees of OpenAI have become the darlings of Silicon Valley and venture funds.

It is one thing to be in demand and another to be called 'mafia.' So why are OpenAI's former employees called a 'mafia'? ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer app in history. Similarly, the cohort of OpenAI's former employees is the fastest-growing group of founders and entrepreneurs. Venture capitalists are queuing up to pour money into their pet projects.

Venture Capitalists believe that OpenAI's former employees will be responsible for shaping the future of AI. This group of 30 former employees of OpenAI (more will be certainly added in the future) has raised over $1 billion so far. They are not only creating their own companies but are also investing in other AI start-ups.

Now, it's time to meet some of the prominent members of the mafia. The 'OpeanAI Mafia' includes OpenAI's former VP of Engineering David Luan; former research scientists Peter Chen and Josh Tobin; former VP of research Dario Amodei; former technical director Ashley Pilipiszyn; one of the founding members Matt Krisiloff; and former head of operations Jeff Arnold, among others.

Members of the 'OpenAI Mafia' have done many things since leaving the AI pathbreaker. Some of them indeed raised more money than others, or some built companies that are more popular than others. However, competition aside, their contribution to AI/ML, at least in this nascent stage, is certainly invaluable.

The 'PayPal Mafia' is responsible for some of the biggest household names of this era. The 'OpenAI Mafia' is yet to reach that level, but there are already some notable companies under the mafia's belt. You might have heard of some of them. This list of notables includes Anthropic, Adept, QuillBot, Covariant, Pilot, and Living Carbon.

It might be a bit presumptuous to call this group of founders and entrepreneurs a 'mafia' in the same spirit as the 'PayPal Mafia' yet. Primarily because they are only at the beginning of the golden age of AI. Once we go deep into this era, we will understand how many become unicorns, IPOs, and so on. Then, we can sit and evaluate.