Ex-OpenAI Staff's 15 AI Startups Hit $250B Valuation
Ex-OpenAI staff's 15 AI startups hit $250B valuation, forming an 'OpenAI Mafia.' From Anthropic to xAI, they're reshaping Silicon Valley's future.
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15 AI Startups Founded by Former OpenAI Employees Are Taking Silicon Valley by Storm, Forming an "OpenAI Mafia" Similar to the PayPal Mafia
Among these startups, hidden talents and groundbreaking technologies are emerging, potentially giving rise to another "OpenAI."
The "PayPal Mafia," a legendary term in Silicon Valley and internet history, has shaped the global tech landscape since the early 21st century. Its members include LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, YouTube founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, and Tesla and SpaceX leader Elon Musk.
Behind these names are transformative changes in industries like social networking, online video, electric vehicles, commercial space exploration, and big data analytics. The PayPal Mafia not only built trillion-dollar business empires but also established Silicon Valley's iconic "alumni network" model.
Today, this legend is being rewritten in the era of artificial intelligence (AI).
In 2015, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and other tech leaders co-founded OpenAI. In November 2022, its AI chatbot ChatGPT took the world by storm. By late March 2025, OpenAI's valuation reached $300 billion.
Currently, 15 AI startups founded by former OpenAI employees have a combined valuation of approximately $250 billion, equivalent to recreating 80% of OpenAI's value. These companies span cutting-edge fields such as large language models, AI agents, robotics, and biotech, with Perplexity already challenging Google's search dominance.