OpenAI has politely declined the viral job application of a tech professional named Ömer Öztok, who was trying to pitch himself for the position of CEO. The company behind ChatGPT said that it admires his “boldness,” but found his proposals “apocalyptic.”
According to a social media post, attributing to an Economic Times report, Öztok’s viral job application included bizarre ideas, such as replacing senior executives with AI agents and recruiting major AI teams from other tech giants, instead of a typical cover letter.
What did Ömer Öztok propose?
Ömer Öztok allegedly proposed that “as my first action, I’ll replace the entire C-Suite (except myself) with ChatGPT agents,” according to screenshots of his application available online. He also reportedly joked about poaching Meta’s AI team, offering ChatGPT Plus for life, and training the next model solely on his own tweets.
In a screenshot of OpenAI’s alleged email response circulating on social media, the tech firm found his ideas “apocalyptic” and legally “disruptive”. The company declined, saying they decided to move forward with a more “traditional candidate who did not request half the company”.
LiveMint could not independently verify the authenticity of the viral email.
Read OpenAI’s full email response:
Dear Mr Oztok,
Thank you for your recent application to become CEO of OpenAl. While your enthusiasm is unmatched, several elements of your application sparked concern within our executive team. Your cover letter included the phrase: “As my first action, I’ll replace the entire C-Suite (except myself) with ChatGPT agents.” This was seen as… apocalyptic.
Additionally, your proposal to “poach the entire Al team from Meta by offering them ChatGPT Plus for life, acquire Google just for the name, and train GPT-6 exclusively on my tweets” were flagged as disruptive by legal.
While we admire your boldness, we’ve chosen to move forward with a more traditional candidate — one who did not ask for 50% of the company.
We wish you luck in your future endeavours.
The OnenAl Global Leadership Team
Here’s how netizens reacted:
The email exchange between the applicant and OpenAI struck social media users as humorous, who praised Oztok for taking a chance.
“Shooters shot I guess,” a user said.
Another said, “Flew too close to the sun.” “You should have asked for 49%” joked another.
“The rejection was written with AI too,” a netizen quipped.
“A simple text ‘YOU DIDNT MEET OUR STANDARD’ would have been savage,” another added.
“I guess it’s only apocalyptic when it’s executive jobs evaporating out from under them, huh?” a user said.
“Elon Musk would probably do the same, and people would love it,” said another user.
A few users claimed that it is an AI-generated fake post, with various variations available online.
