When engineer and MIT graduate Calvin French-Owen joined OpenAI in May 2024, the startup had around 1,000 employees. A year later, OpenAI’s workforce had tripled to 3,000 employees, and French-Owen was in the top 30% by tenure.
In a blog post published Tuesday, French-Owen detailed what it was like to work for the ChatGPT-maker for a little over a year, from May 2024 to June 2025. He quit OpenAI three weeks ago, stating that there was no “personal drama” behind his decision, but that he was simply “craving a fresh start.”
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While at OpenAI, French-Owen