OpenAI has reportedly declined the viral job application of a tech professional named Ömer Öztok, who pitched himself for the position of CEO. The company behind ChatGPT allegedly admired his “boldness,” but found his proposals to be “apocalyptic.”
According to The Economic Times, Öztok’s viral job application included unusual ideas, such as replacing senior executives with AI agents and recruiting entire AI teams from rival tech giants, instead of submitting a typical cover letter.
What did Ömer Öztok propose?
Öztok allegedly wrote that his first action as OpenAI CEO would be: “I’ll replace the entire C-Suite (except myself) with ChatGPT agents”.
Screenshots circulating online also show him joking about poaching Meta’s AI team, offering ChatGPT Plus for life, and training GPT-6 solely on his own tweets.
On LinkedIn, Öztok, who says he is a founder of various startups, shared OpenAI’s response to his “overambitious” application, writing, “I shot my shot. This time, for something bigger: CEO of OpenAI.”
“Apparently, replacing the entire C-Suite with ChatGPT agents raised some concerns,” he added, saying that his startup would someday overtake Sam Altman’s firm. “That’s alright. One day, Lynkr will overtake OpenAI. Just watch.”
The alleged rejection email
In screenshots shared by Öztok, OpenAI’s email response described ideas as “apocalyptic” and legally “disruptive”. The company allegedly declined his application and said it would move forward with a more “traditional candidate who did not request half the company.”
Read full text
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 OpenAI Global Leadership Team
Here’s how netizens reacted:
The email exchange between the applicant and OpenAI struck social media users as humorous, who lauded 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.
