[News Inside Companies] Y Combinator... ChatGPT's Sam Altman Also From Here

Called the Silicon Valley Startup Academy
Networking Formed Here Leads to OpenAI Founding

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han] Artificial intelligence (AI) ChatGPT has surpassed 100 million monthly active users (MAU), causing a global sensation. Some analysts suggest that this innovation was possible because OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is an alumnus of Y Combinator.

Y Combinator (hereafter YC) is a 'seed accelerator' that provides integrated support activities such as investment, consulting, and networking to early-stage startups. It was founded in 2005 by Paul Graham and others. Paul Graham, born in 1964, created Yahoo Store and is also known as one of the first developers of web-based applications. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Harvard University.

YC selects promising startups twice a year, in summer and winter. In exchange for providing initial funding and mentoring to the selected startups, YC takes about 7% equity.

Since its founding, YC has invested in over 2,000 startups including Airbnb, Twitch, Dropbox, Reddit, and Pinterest, with a combined corporate value known to exceed $100 billion (120 trillion KRW). This is why YC is called a 'guarantee of startup success' beyond a simple investment firm in Silicon Valley, where many startups gather.

Photo by Yonhap News

Sam Altman, who developed ChatGPT, was part of YC's first batch. Altman entered Stanford University's Computer Science department in 2003 but dropped out and launched a location-based social networking service (SNS) called 'Loopt,' which was ignored by the market. Later, at the suggestion of Paul Graham, whom he met during Loopt's development, he joined Y Combinator as president. He was 28 years old at the time.

As a startup accelerator, Altman was able to interact with startup leaders driving innovative companies, and the network he formed then helped him later in founding OpenAI.

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, the world's first electronic payment company that pioneered the fintech era, was a close associate of Altman since Altman was CEO of Y Combinator. The two exchanged various opinions on IT innovation issues as well as political and social matters. Peter Thiel also served as a non-executive partner and member of Y Combinator.

IT industry giants such as Elon Musk, who leads Tesla, and Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, all have connections with Altman and are named as co-founders of OpenAI. Ultimately, ChatGPT, which is shaking the world today, can be seen as the result of the innovation created by the network Sam Altman formed while at YC.