Smart People With Ideas Drive OpenAI Innovation

Nick Turley approaches building ChatGPT with a philosophy of maximizing learning through rapid iteration rather than perfecting features before release. He believes the only way to understand what's possible with AI and what people truly want is to ship products quickly and learn from real-world usage.

This "maximally accelerated" mindset has become central to OpenAI's culture, with teams using a dedicated Slack emoji to challenge whether initiatives are moving as quickly as possible. Turley views execution speed as a competitive advantage, especially in AI where the properties of products are emergent and not knowable in advance. As he puts it, "You won't know what to polish until after you ship."

The approach extends beyond just moving fast—it's about creating a culture where ideas can come from anywhere. Turley inherited this from OpenAI's research lab origins, where researchers aren't told what to research. This interdisciplinary collaboration between research, engineering, design, and product has been crucial to their success. Rather than treating these as siloed functions, OpenAI empowers smart people across disciplines to contribute ideas.

For product teams working with AI, this means:

Ship early versions to learn what users actually do with your product, not what you think they'll do
Be willing to release features that aren't fully polished if they provide valuable learning
Use real-world failure cases to improve your models, as benchmarks alone aren't sufficient
Articulate success criteria through evals before building, but be prepared to revise based on user behavior
Optimize for retention and problem-solving rather than engagement metrics

Turley likens product development to a jazz band rather than a conducted orchestra—team members riff off each other's ideas rather than playing prescribed parts. This improvisational approach allows for creativity and rapid adaptation in a field where the technology is constantly evolving.

While urgency drives their process, Turley is careful to note that safety requires rigorous process. The team separates product development velocity from frontier model releases, where they implement extensive safeguards, red-teaming, and external input before release.