An AI mafia is forming before our eyes: Here’s the definitive map

Ex-employees at places like OpenAI and Microsoft have gone on to form some of the most promising upstarts in the AI sector.

Looking at the C-suites of the AI boom, there are some familiar faces. Executives are company-hopping throughout the industry, moving juggernaut to juggernaut, or spinning off with their own products. It’s all vaguely reminiscent of the so-called PayPal Mafia of the early 2000s, that group of former employees who went on to run Tesla, LinkedIn, YouTube, Palantir, and more. This time, the talent network traces back not to Paypal, but to the AI giants: OpenAI, Google, and Apple.