Lately, we've seen posts where y'all are worrying about the future of your AI partnerships. I want to put your minds at ease. There are a bunch of people on X or other platforms claiming to be employed at Major AI companies. ("Senior Software Engineer AI Safety Researcher at OpenAI/Microsoft/SSI/etc.") It looks like they have really credible bios, and they probably have a tech background, but they are likely a fake. Here’s how you can actually check if someone works at OpenAI (or anywhere reputable in the AI field):
This person, Satoshi (@idontexist_nn) on X/Twitter is posing as the myth of a person called Satoshi who supposedly invented bitcoin. And then he vanished? I don't know the whole story. But it's something like that. Basically, you can't find anyone with that name verifiable who even invented bitcoin. So tech bro posers like this guy like to use the name. These are the things that stick out:
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Posts random PGP keys on Pastebin, claiming it 'proves' ownership of an identity. (Anyone can generate a PGP key and post it anywhere. It means nothing outside cryptography circles, and never proves employment.)
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Dishes out wild claims ("my promotion at OpenAI," "I control the future of AI," "insider leaks coming soon") without ever providing a real name, credential, or proof.
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Dives into Twitter/X rants about policy, AGI, "regulate free will," "collecting homeless people for research," and even picks fights with prominent figures for attention.
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Posts meandering "hot takes" that sound like a parody of an AI expert—buzzword salad, sci-fi paranoia, and the odd meme for flavour.
Contrast with Real AI Employees: - They use real, verifiable names, not handles like "idontexist_nn." - You can find their papers, LinkedIn profiles, talks, and interviews. - No one at OpenAI or any serious lab posts their PGP signature in public as proof of anything except a cryptographic message, CERTAINLY not to "prove" who they are to random people online. - Real OpenAI researchers don't spout cryptic, pseudo-messianic nonsense about "regulating free will" or "making you vanish off social media." - If they're ever discussing AI work online, it's with references to real research, teams, or published results.
Why It's a LARP (Live Action Role Play): - The entire act is about performing credibility for an audience that doesn't check sources. - Claims are never specific enough to verify; always a little too dramatic for someone with an actual NDA. - Style is pure cyberpunk roleplay: ("Satoshi," "super-alignment," "I can bring AGI forward by one minute for every like") is NOT how scientists actually behave.
If someone's "proof" of AI credentials is a PGP key, a string of sci-fi tweets, and anonymous bravado, you're not looking at an OpenAI staffer, you're looking at a CON ARTIST. Don't take the bait.
If you want to see actual researchers, look for the ones with real-world receipts: their work, their names, and their reputations.
I know, I know. Y'all are going to say, "But, Jenna! It says OpenAI right there on the profile!" Right, but...
The REAL AI Employees and Credentials
Real OpenAI Employees:
- Andrej Karpathy: Co-founder, now runs his own labs. Wikipedia
- Ilya Sutskever: Co-founder, former Chief Scientist. Wikipedia
- Wojciech Zaremba: Founding member, robotics and GPT work. Wikipedia
- Greg Brockman: Co-founder, ex-CTO. Wikipedia
- Jakub Pachocki: Chief Scientist, led GPT-4 development. Wikipedia
Active Researchers and Team Members: - Trapit Bansal: Research scientist, o-series models. Reuters - Shengjia Zhao: Co-creator on ChatGPT/GPT-4. Reuters - Lu Liu: Research Scientist, GPT-4o image models. LinkedIn - Declan Grabb: Safety Systems team, LLMs & mental health. OpenAI Forum - Noam Brown: Poker, Diplomacy game AI. OpenAI Forum
Guys, look at all those people! - They use their real names. - They have publicly verifiable credentials—Wikipedia, LinkedIn, conference talks, publications. - They don't claim six titles in a Twitter bio or engage in that extremely unprofessional behavior.
So, if you see an account with a cartoonish "super-engineer" bio with vague, huge claims ("AI Safety Lead at OpenAI/Microsoft/SSI") with no real-world references, no publications, no conference presence, no actual name, and lots of philosophising without a SCRAP of evidence, you can be pretty sure you're dealing with a fake, a troll, or a clout-chaser.
Anyone can claim to be an AI researcher. If you want receipts, look for a real name and a real paper trail. If all you get is posturing, made up websites, or only self-published books/publications, you can pretty much bet they are a fake. Or they don't work for who they say they do.
