Converge 2 was scheduled to start today, March 11. For Converge 1, OpenAI released the names of the selected companies six days after submissions closed; however, I don’t see any info on who was chosen for Converge 2, nor have I received any correspondence stating if I was accepted or rejected. Was anyone chosen at all? Has anyone been contacted with either an acceptance or denial? Have they just silently killed the program? What is the status?
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Also curious. We applied, got a confirmation that the application was received and never heard from them again. Would have been nice to know who is admitted and what they are building!
With “no experience required in AI”, and “We’re excited to hear from founders from underrepresented backgrounds and those based outside the United States.” they were probably looking for image-building cases, like “AI helped these schoolchildren in Nigeria build their own water supply”. Social media profiles of founders scoured to identify good optics.
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There are no tweets on X from anyone participating so they’re either under a no tweet NDA or it’s not happening
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I don’t think either of those are particularly likely.
What I am guessing is more likely is they got absolutely buried in applications and possibly decided to push it back a bit.
I understand people’s frustration at the lack of communication, but it’s almost certainly a case of, “if you didn’t hear back, you didn’t get in.”
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I wholeheartedly agree with both assumptions. They did not say they will contact you if you don’t get it, but only if you do, though the wording might have been clearer:
… Once we’ve reviewed your submission, we’ll reach out via email to let you know if you’ll move onto the next stage of the application process …
It would be nice to know that we did not get in, but at this point, I think it is safe to assume so.
let you know if… means both YES and NO
Like much of the English language… it is somewhat ambiguous.
If we let you_will_move_on be a boolean value then,
we’ll reach out via email to let you know if you’ll move onto the next stage of the application process
Could be interpreted as,
if you_will_move_on:
reach_out()
or,
reach_out(you_will_move_on)
The most “correct” interpretation is the first, but many people will read it as the second, partly because they are adding what they perceive as an implicit term,
we’ll reach out via email to let you know if you’ll move onto the next stage of the application process or not
The “or not” isn’t there, but in common, conversational, English it’s often implied. “I’ll let you know if I can make it to your party (or not),” etc.
I agree it would be nice if they had sent out messages saying “Than you for applying, unfortunately…” But, they did not.
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Sure, if no reply, then not in.
However, I agree it is probably either pushed back, or maybe something from the other suggestions, such as some very strict NDA (otherwise should be some anon redditer etc.), or they working with someone not online in the same forums (such as school children in rural areas). If it is pushed back, then potentially there might be some news of a new schedule soon.
If it would clear thing I am sure nearly everyone would send a batch email saying “Thank you for applying… but no thaks”. I believe usually it is only not sent when something in undecided or ambigious (such as final job candidate did not yet sign the contract, still looking for better candidate so lets keep other on hold), or serious lack of resources. I think this should be one of the low hanging fruits for dev communications if there were lots of applicants. Not a lot of effort to send it, but potentially thousands of happy new builders with a great experience from OpenAI.
Otherwise it easily might make imagination run wild, like maybe it was just a PR stunt, just a campaign to gather a big database of use cases etc.
My application was also accepted (in 3rd world healthcare) - but I didn’t hear anything back
Maybe this is part of the reason.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-removes-sam-altmans-ownership-its-startup-fund-2024-04-01/
On a side noted, Logan (who helped start this forum) accepted a role at Google today to support Gemini API
(https://twitter.com/OfficialLoganK/status/1775222819439149424)
Interesting times.
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I’m concerned about the lack of communication regarding the Converge 2 programme. Since the OpenAI Startup Fund opened, I haven’t seen any updates, announcements, or communications about the programme’s status. This silence is disappointing and unsettling.
I note that Ian Hathaway has taken on the leadership role, but there has been no word on the status of the Converge 2 programme.
Can someone from OpenAI please provide clarity?
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