While not a full picture of OpenAI's workforce, the snapshot underscores how heavily frontier AI labs continue to draw from a small cluster of top research universities - and how concentrated elite AI talent remains.
Over the summer, the Trump administration held an unusual Independence Day celebration at the White House. A live band warmed the crowd with renditions of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" and Pharrell Williams's "Happy" before the president emerged from the first-floor balcony of the executive residence. Supporters sporting red MAGA caps looked on as he signed the Big Beautiful Bill into law beneath the South Portico's white columns.
The Trump administration is justified in criticizing elite universities for their perceived failures compared to character-driven institutions like the U.S. Army, as exemplified by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's military history.