Ex-OpenAI Employees Launch AI Startups, Attracting Major Investments

OpenAI and Benchmark Back New Startups From Ex-OpenAI Staffers

Two and a half years ago, Liam Fedus was part of the team that helped create ChatGPT and kicked off a frenzy around artificial intelligence. Now, he's among the growing group of ex-OpenAI employees seizing on the AI investment boom with startups of their own. Fedus, OpenAI's former vice president of research for post-training, is raising more than $100 million to launch a company called Periodic Labs that's focused on AI for material science, according to people familiar with the matter. The round is being led by OpenAI and will value the new startup at about $1 billion, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information. Fedus is working with Ekin Dogus Cubuk, a former research scientist at Google DeepMind.

Former OpenAI Employees Launch Their Own Startups | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Like OpenAI, each of the startups is focused on the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, Bloomberg reported Thursday (June 5). A startup founded by former OpenAI vice president of research for post-training, Liam Fedus, and former Google DeepMind research scientist Ekin Dogus Cubuk is called Periodic Labs and is focused on AI for material science, according to the report. Another startup is being formed by former OpenAI employees Rhythm Garg, Linden Li and Yash Patil and is focused on reinforcement learning, in which AI systems learn to make decisions through trial and error, the report said. Former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati formed a startup called Thinking Machines Lab, which has a staff that includes more than a dozen former employees of OpenAI, per the report. In addition, former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever has raised billions of dollars for an AI research lab, according to the report. AI startups xAI and Anthropic were also founded by people with early ties to xAI, per the report. When Murati announced the formation of Thinking Machine Labs in February, she said in a post on X that the company will help people adapt AI systems to meet their specific needs, develop foundations to build more capable AI systems, and foster a culture of open science aimed at helping the whole field understand and improve AI systems. "Our goal is simple, advance AI by making it broadly useful and understandable through solid foundations, open science and practical applications," Murai wrote in the post. When Sutskever launched his AI company in June 2024, the firm, Safe Superintelligence, said it will "approach safety and capabilities in tandem, as technical problems to be solved through revolutionary engineering and scientific breakthroughs." It was reported in April that Safe Superintelligence raised $6 billion in new funding in a round that valued the company at $32 billion, a more than sixfold increase from the previous time it raised money. That funding round was reported to be the latest sign for continued investor enthusiasm in AI companies.

Former OpenAI VP launches AI startup Periodic Labs - Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Liam Fedus, former vice president of research for post-training at OpenAI, is reportedly raising over $100 million to launch a new startup called Periodic Labs. The startup, which will specialize in artificial intelligence for material science, is being backed by OpenAI and others, according to Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources. The new round of funding will put the startup's valuation at around $1 billion. Fedus is collaborating with Ekin Dogus Cubuk, an ex-research scientist from Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) DeepMind, on this venture. Fedus was part of the team that developed ChatGPT at OpenAI two and a half years ago. He is one of many former OpenAI employees who have decided to start their own companies, capitalizing on the current boom in AI investment. In related news, another group of less-known former OpenAI employees have also left the company to start their own venture, according to Bloomberg. This new startup, which is yet to be named, has secured seed funding from the renowned venture capital firm Benchmark. The startup will concentrate on reinforcement learning, an AI technique that enables systems to learn decision-making through trial and error. The team behind this venture includes Rhythm Garg, Linden Li, and Yash Patil.