Bloomberg Technology reported on 8 October that OpenAI has appointed Ismail Elmas as vice president for sales covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the AI company's second sales hire from SpaceX in a month, according to the article.
The report, which is paywalled, said Elmas is OpenAI's second sales executive recruited from Elon Musk's SpaceX since September. Automatica has not independently confirmed the hire or its terms. Neither OpenAI nor SpaceX has issued a public statement on the appointment.
The claim is structurally plausible. OpenAI has been expanding its enterprise sales operations to pursue large corporate and government contracts, with EMEA as a priority region. A pattern of recruiting from SpaceX, which sells complex technical services to institutional customers, would fit that strategic direction. Plausibility is not confirmation.
What would confirm or undercut the report: an official announcement from OpenAI, a LinkedIn profile update from Elmas, or a denial from either company. Until one of those materialises, the hire should be treated as reported but unverified.