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A Turkish entrepreneur’s attempt to become the next CEO of OpenAI quickly spread online after the company issued a humorous rejection letter.
Omer Oztok announced his application in a LinkedIn post, writing, “I shot my shot. This time, for something bigger: CEO of OpenAI.” He also shared the company’s response, which turned the story into a viral discussion on social media.
In his application, Oztok made unusual promises. He said he would “replace the entire C-suite (except myself) with ChatGPT agents.”
He added that he planned to transfer Meta’s entire artificial intelligence team by offering them lifetime ChatGPT Plus memberships.
He also proposed buying Google “just for the name” and training GPT-6 “exclusively on my tweets.”
According to the rejection letter, OpenAI told him, “Your passion is unmatched, but several elements of your application sparked concern within our executive team.”
The letter continued, “Some parts of your plan were seen as apocalyptic, while others were flagged as disruptive by legal.”
The company concluded with humor, saying, “We admire your boldness, but we have chosen to move forward with a more traditional candidate—one who did not ask for 50% of the company.”
The unusual application and the playful response gained strong attention online.
Many users shared screenshots of the letter, which mixed corporate formality with humor, and debated whether such boldness should be admired or questioned.
8 min read
