OpenAI has unveiled bold plans for a new AI-driven hiring service, signaling a head-to-head rivalry with LinkedIn.
Dubbed the OpenAI Jobs Platform, this project aims to harness artificial intelligence to seamlessly match companies and job seekers, with a projected rollout by 2026.
Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO of Applications, shared that the platform will feature paths specifically for small businesses and local governments hoping to tap into top AI talent. Simo wrote, “We’re using AI to make the ideal connections between what employers need and what job seekers can do.”
OpenAI appears eager to move far beyond its current focus on AI-driven hiring service.
CEO Sam Altman recently told journalists that Simo would oversee multiple new ventures, including the hiring platform, plus possible launches like a web browser and a social media app.
Shaking Up the Talent Hunt
If successful, OpenAI’s new jobs platform would step directly into LinkedIn’s domain, a company founded by Reid Hoffman, who incidentally was among OpenAI’s earliest financial supporters. LinkedIn is now part of Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor.
LinkedIn has not sat idly by. Over the past year, it has ramped up its use of AI to sharpen how it matches job hunters with employers.
OpenAI’s ambitions stretch further than job listings or matchmaking. The company has announced plans for new certifications to assess people’s proficiency with AI, available through OpenAI Academy. A pilot for OpenAI Certifications is slated for 2025, aiming to credential a new wave of AI-savvy workers.
Some industry leaders are sounding the alarm about the future of work as AI reshapes responsibilities. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei even warned that up to half of entry-level office roles could vanish before 2030 because of this rapid transformation.
Simo acknowledged those risks but was unapologetic in OpenAI’s approach. “We can’t stop disruption, but we can help individuals learn AI and link them with employers searching for those abilities,” she explained.
The company is also joining forces with Walmart for its certification program, hoping to validate 10 million American workers by the end of the decade.
OpenAI frames its growing suite of programs as part of a broader commitment to boost AI understanding, supporting a White House initiative aimed at broadening AI literacy.
Altman and other industry leaders met with President Donald Trump this week to talk about the company’s role in supporting workers facing a fast-changing job landscape.
