The informal but rapidly expanding network of former OpenAI employees—colloquially known as the ‘OpenAI mafia’—continues to grow its influence across the technology landscape. One of its latest members to make an entrepreneurial debut is Angela Jiang, who played a pivotal role as one of OpenAI’s early product managers. Jiang has embarked on a new venture called Worktrace AI, an artificial intelligence startup receiving considerable backing from Mira Murati, OpenAI’s former Chief Technology Officer. Much like Murati’s own discreetly developing enterprise, Thinking Machines Lab, Worktrace AI is devoted to creating and commercializing AI-driven systems tailored for large-scale corporate applications.
According to documents and communications obtained by Business Insider, Worktrace AI entered preliminary discussions during the summer to secure approximately $10 million in seed funding, which would assign the company a valuation in the range of $50 million. Despite the scale of these potential investments and its quietly established digital presence—including both a website and an official LinkedIn profile—the company has yet to release any formal public statements regarding its launch. When approached for comment, Jiang respectfully declined to provide details, maintaining the same air of discretion that surrounds many early-stage startups. Her cofounder, Deepak Vasisht, who serves as an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Illinois, did not respond to requests for input.
The company’s stated mission, as outlined on its online platform, is to assist organizations in identifying and automating repetitive workflows by closely observing employee activity and learning from operational patterns. This strategic approach positions Worktrace AI within a broader and increasingly prominent movement in Silicon Valley—a surge of interest in developing AI systems capable of emulating, streamlining, and ultimately optimizing human tasks. For instance, OpenAI itself recently introduced new methods to evaluate the effectiveness of its AI models on practical, real-world assignments such as the drafting of legal briefs. These advancements reflect the industry’s growing ambition to bridge the gap between artificial and human intelligence in everyday professional contexts.
Worktrace AI’s supporters constitute a veritable list of well-connected figures deeply embedded in OpenAI’s ecosystem. Among its investors are Nick Turley, the current head of ChatGPT; Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer; and Joanne Jang, who oversaw the development of the team responsible for refining ChatGPT’s behavioral parameters. Evidence of their involvement appeared in a job posting seeking a founding engineer for the new company. The same listing revealed that investors not only include individuals tied directly to OpenAI but also the organization’s own startup fund, accompanied by prominent venture capital firms such as 8VC and Conviction, among others.
Jiang’s career trajectory provides valuable context for understanding the significance of Worktrace AI’s development. As the third product manager hired by OpenAI, she played an instrumental role in launching several generations of the models that formed the foundation for ChatGPT, including the iteration that captured worldwide attention in late 2022. Following her contributions to product development, she transitioned to OpenAI’s public policy division, where she engaged with issues at the intersection of technology, governance, and ethics before officially departing the company in December 2024, as verified by her LinkedIn profile.
Worktrace AI’s emergence highlights a continuing wave of startups founded by former OpenAI employees—ventures that frequently attract high valuations and substantial funding rounds even before introducing a commercial product or securing their first revenue stream. This phenomenon underscores both the allure of OpenAI’s alumni network and investor confidence in the technical acumen of its veterans. One notable example is Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab, which, according to previous Business Insider reporting, closed an astonishing $2 billion seed round earlier this year, propelling its valuation to an estimated $12 billion. Similarly, the startup Safe Superintelligence, established by Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s former chief scientist, is reportedly valued at approximately $32 billion, as disclosed by the Financial Times.
The ongoing trend of high-profile AI ventures does not stop there. Just last month, another company, Periodic Labs—co-founded by William Fedus, a researcher instrumental in the development of ChatGPT—announced that it had raised $300 million to advance its ambitious effort to construct so-called ‘AI scientists,’ designed to automate elements of scientific discovery. These developments collectively reflect an era in which alumni of OpenAI are shaping the competitive frontier of artificial intelligence innovation, leveraging their prior experiences to redefine how intelligent systems can transform industries across the globe.
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Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/former-openai-product-manager-launches-worktrace-ai-mira-murati-backing-2025-10
