OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has extended an invitation to engineers and system designers to join the AI company. In a couple of posts on X (formerly Twitter) this week, Mr Altman laid out the growing need for talent, particularly in the area of large-scale computing and infrastructure.
“If you are interested in infrastructure and very large-scale computing systems, the scale of what’s happening at OpenAI right now is insane and we have very hard/interesting challenges. Please consider joining us! We could desperately use your help,” Mr Altman wrote.
In a follow-up post, he added, “In particular, if you have thought about how to squeeze max performance out of a system, we’d love to talk to you. And if you have a background in compiler design or programming language design, we might have something great for you.”
in particular, if you have thought about how to squeeze max performance out of a system, we’d love to talk to you.
and if you have a background in compiler design or programming language design, we might have something great for you.
— Sam Altman (@sama) April 13, 2025
Mr Altman’s call for talent comes at an important time for the company.
This month, OpenAI secured a $40-billion investment round led by SoftBank Group. The funding is earmarked for building next-generation AI tools and inching closer to the ambitious goal of achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
The Japanese tech investment giant said it would provide OpenAI with $10 billion in funding by mid-April, followed by another $30 billion in December, provided the AI company shifts to a for-profit model by year-end, according to a report in Reuters.
OpenAI’s future infrastructure plans are also taking shape under the Stargate Project.
In an announcement in January, OpenAI stated the Stargate Project is “a new company which intends to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.”
While the project was originally conceived to strengthen the US’s AI capabilities, its scope is already broadening. According to reports, Stargate is actively exploring opportunities for international expansion, with potential investments being considered in the UK, France and Germany.
Mr Altman’s hiring appeal is widely seen as a strategic move to strengthen the engineering muscle required for Stargate and other initiatives, particularly as competition heats up.
Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, is set to scale up its supercomputing facility significantly in Memphis, Tennessee, with plans to accommodate over one million GPUs, according to a Reuters report. The expansion highlights xAI’s push to keep pace with competitors like OpenAI in the race to dominate the AI landscape.
The timing of the recruitment push also reflects the strain on existing systems.
OpenAI’s flagship tool, ChatGPT, has experienced a sharp spike in user activity. Its usage reportedly doubled within a week, thanks in part to a viral trend where users began to generate fantastical images in the style of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. OpenAI’s image-generation platform has been a key driver of this boom.
Mr Altman has openly acknowledged the stress this popularity has placed on his team and systems. In an earlier post on social media, he noted the ongoing shortage of GPUs as a significant bottleneck.