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• OpenAI has hired Gabor Cselle, former CEO and co-founder of Pebble, for a "secret project".
• Cselle's previous venture, Pebble, had a community-focused microblogging service, which was rebranded as Pebble.social after its shutdown.
• OpenAI, known for creating ChatGPT, is speculated to launch its next AI model, 'Orion', which is expected to be 100 times more powerful than GPT-4.
• Cselle's addition to OpenAI is seen as a significant development, with expectations of his substantial contribution to the company's ongoing and future projects.

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research lab led by Sam Altman, has recently made a significant addition to its team. Gabor Cselle, the former CEO and co-founder of Pebble, has been hired to work on a secret project. Cselle's appointment at OpenAI has been in effect since October, and he has expressed his excitement about joining the team on his X social media platform.

Cselle's journey in the tech industry has been a fascinating one. He co-founded Pebble, originally known as T2, in 2022 alongside Michael Greer, the former engineering head at Discord. Pebble, under their leadership, managed to secure funding from several venture capitalists, including Android co-founder Rich Miner. However, despite the promising start, Pebble announced its shutdown in 2023.

Pebble had managed to cultivate a small but engaged community on its microblogging service. Despite its closure, the platform made a comeback as a Mastodon instance, rebranded as Pebble.social.

Pebble's Journey and Cselle's New Role

At its zenith, Pebble boasted 20,000 registered users. However, following its rebranding from T2, the platform saw a significant drop in usage, with daily users dwindling to around 1,000. Cselle, reflecting on the journey of Pebble, was quoted saying, "I think it's good to see that the community finds value in this and that's that we had a real community on Pebble." After his stint with Pebble, Cselle joined the accelerator South Park Commons in May of the current year.

OpenAI, Cselle's new home, has been making waves in the AI industry. The company, known for creating ChatGPT, is reportedly planning to launch its next AI model, 'Orion', in December. This new model is speculated to be up to 100 times more powerful than GPT-4. However, unlike the release of OpenAI's last two models - GPT-4o and o1 - Orion won't initially be released widely through ChatGPT.

OpenAI's Future Plans and Orion

OpenAI's plans for Orion come at a time when the company is undergoing significant changes. The AI research lab, which recently secured a historic $6.6 billion funding at a $157 billion valuation, is restructuring itself as a for-profit entity. However, despite the buzz around Orion, OpenAI has clarified that it has no plans to launch Orion as of now.

The hiring of Cselle by OpenAI is reminiscent of similar moves in the tech industry. Companies often bring in experienced individuals from different backgrounds to work on new and secret projects. This strategy allows companies to leverage the unique skills and perspectives of these individuals, thereby fostering innovation and growth.