The term “OpenAI mafia” is quickly gaining traction in Silicon Valley, mirroring the influence of the original “PayPal mafia.” OpenAI, the company behind the revolutionary ChatGPT, has reached a $300 billion valuation, and many of its former employees have gone on to create their own successful startups. These ventures span a wide range of industries, from AI search engines to carbon capture technologies, and have raised billions of dollars in funding, often before launching a product.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of the most notable startups founded by OpenAI alumni:
1. Anthropic
- Founders: Dario Amodei, Daniela Amodei, and John Schulman
- Focus: AI safety and alignment
- Valuation: $61.5 billion (March 2025)
Anthropic was founded in 2021 by Dario and Daniela Amodei, who left OpenAI to create a company centered around building safe artificial general intelligence (AGI). The company quickly became OpenAI’s biggest competitor, with a strong focus on AI safety. In 2024, John Schulman, another former OpenAI co-founder, joined Anthropic, helping solidify its standing as a major player in AI development.
2. Safe Superintelligence (SSI)
- Founder: Ilya Sutskever
- Focus: Creating safe superintelligence
- Valuation: $32 billion (April 2025)
Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief scientist, left the company in May 2024 following internal tensions. He co-founded Safe Superintelligence with the goal of building a superintelligent AI that is safe for humanity. While the company has not yet launched a product, it raised $2 billion in funding, highlighting the high demand for AI projects with a focus on safety. SSI is based in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, and investors are eagerly awaiting its product.
3. Thinking Machines Lab
- Founder: Mira Murati
- Focus: Customizable and capable AI
- Valuation: $10 billion (Expected)
Mira Murati, the former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of OpenAI, left to create Thinking Machines Lab in 2024. This startup promises to push the boundaries of AI by making it more customizable and capable. Although the company is still in stealth mode, it has already raised $2 billion in seed funding and has attracted top-tier AI researchers from OpenAI.
4. Perplexity
- Founder: Aravind Srinivas
- Focus: AI-powered search engine
- Valuation: $18 billion (March 2025)
Aravind Srinivas co-founded Perplexity in 2022 after leaving OpenAI. Perplexity aims to revolutionize search engines by utilizing cutting-edge AI to provide more intelligent, human-like search results. It has attracted significant investments from notable figures like Jeff Bezos and Nvidia. The company has raised $1 billion and is currently valued at $18 billion.
5. xAI
- Founder: Kyle Kosic
- Focus: AI-powered chatbots
- Valuation: $113 billion (2025, post-X acquisition)
Kyle Kosic co-founded xAI in 2023, which is spearheaded by Elon Musk. The startup focuses on building a rival chatbot called Grok and also acquired X (formerly Twitter) in 2024. This all-stock acquisition gave the combined entity a massive valuation of $113 billion, solidifying xAI’s position as a major tech player.
6. Stem AI
- Founder: Emmett Shear
- Focus: AI-driven business solutions
- Funding: Raised from Andreessen Horowitz
Emmett Shear, former CEO of Twitch, briefly served as OpenAI’s interim CEO in November 2023. After his short tenure, Shear founded Stem AI, a stealth startup that is still under wraps but already backed by high-profile investors like Andreessen Horowitz.
7. Eureka Labs
- Founder: Andrej Karpathy
- Focus: AI-powered teaching assistants
- Funding: Undisclosed (2025)
Andrej Karpathy, the renowned computer vision expert and former OpenAI research scientist, founded Eureka Labs in 2024 after leaving Tesla. The startup focuses on developing AI teaching assistants that will assist in learning environments, using AI to guide students through lessons. The startup is still in its early stages but has raised interest due to Karpathy’s reputation in AI.
8. Pilot
- Founder: Jeff Arnold
- Focus: Accounting for startups
- Valuation: $1.2 billion (2021)
Jeff Arnold co-founded Pilot, an accounting firm aimed at startups, in 2017 after briefly working at OpenAI. The company raised $100 million in Series C funding and has been successful in automating accounting services for startups. Arnold left the company in 2024 to launch a VC fund but remains closely associated with Pilot’s growth.
9. Adept AI Labs
- Founder: David Luan
- Focus: AI tools for employees
- Funding: $350 million (2023)
After leaving OpenAI in 2020, David Luan co-founded Adept AI Labs to build AI tools for business employees, automating tasks traditionally handled by humans. The company has raised $350 million, reaching a valuation of over $1 billion, and was poised for further growth when Luan left in late 2024 for Amazon’s AI agents lab.
10. Cresta
- Founder: Tim Shi
- Focus: AI-powered contact centers
- Funding: $270 million+
Cresta, co-founded by Tim Shi, focuses on building AI contact centers that utilize artificial intelligence to improve customer service. With over $270 million raised, the company is a leader in using AI to automate and enhance customer interactions in various industries.
Other Notable Startups:
- Covariant: Focuses on AI models for robotics, co-founded by former OpenAI researchers. Amazon hired its founders in 2024.
- Living Carbon: Co-founded by Maddie Hall, this startup focuses on creating engineered plants that absorb more carbon to fight climate change.
- Prosper Robotics: A robot butler startup co-founded by Shariq Hashme, focusing on automating household tasks.
- Daedalus: Co-founded by Jonas Schneider, this company builds advanced factories for precision components.
Conclusion
The OpenAI mafia is rapidly expanding, with its alumni shaping the future of AI across multiple domains. From AI safety to search engines and even environmental sustainability, these startups are not just making waves—they are rewriting the future of technology. As more former OpenAI employees venture out to create their own companies, we can expect the AI ecosystem to continue growing in new and exciting directions.
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