Where are YC founders now? OpenAI and Anthropic, mostly
A data visualization project tracks the career paths of Y Combinator startup founders, revealing a significant concentration of talent moving toward major AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic. The data highlights a shift from independent startup leadership to specialized technical roles within large AI organizations.
Why it matters
This trend illustrates the 'brain drain' of entrepreneurial talent toward dominant AI labs, potentially signaling a consolidation of innovation in the sector.
See where YC founders go after their startup is acquired or shut down
OpenAI · 70 Anthropic · 35 Each ribbon is one founder's journey. Hover over to see what they built and where they went. Did we get something wrong? Who they are & what they built Last updated: July 14, 2026.
OpenAI former Steered OpenAI for one extraordinary weekend in 2023.
OpenAI former Worked on strategy, then moved to Google Workspace GenAI.
Anthropic Product engineer building Claude APIs/SDKs & platform
OpenAI Moved from startup operations into OpenAI in 2026.
OpenAI MTS on search evals, RAG & agentic AI
Anthropic Working on Anthropic's compute team with Tom Brown.
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