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> Sounds like they were fine with him moonlighting other projects

Even that’s not quite right. OpenAI had been a research project inside YC. So there was no “moonlighting” about it (and Worldcoin started around the same time Sam left YC).

It seems everyone accepted that things qualitatively changed when OpenAI stopped being a non-profit research project inside YC to becoming a for-profit venture, and they just had an adult conversation about it.

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Was OpenAI at all affiliated with YC? I think they were entirely independent organizations.

OK, it was independent but established with funding from YC Research and Jessica (among others including Sam himself and Elon) and initially operating from YC office space.

So it was always something that was closely linked to YC and his involvement with it was generally accepted as being harmonious with his role running YC, until it became for-profit.

Details here:

https://www.wired.com/2015/12/how-elon-musk-and-y-combinator...

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