Sam Yam, the co-founder and former technology chief of Patreon, is joining OpenAI to lead its Creator Product team. Yam announced the move on X, saying he is excited to build with creators and share early access to new tools. He is bringing two former Patreon executives, Drew Rowny and Shannon Ma, with him to OpenAI.
Yam did not specify what the new tools are, but told followers to pay attention to OpenAI DevDay next week. The developer event is set for Tuesday, September 29th. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also teased another big announcement will be coming this week.
The move adds to a string of senior hires at OpenAI. Last week, the company named its first worldwide sales chief, Brian McCarthy. In August, it hired Meta's Sandhya Devanathan to lead Southeast Asia and Australia. OpenAI has also been buying teams, including camera startup Glass Imaging this month.
Patreon, which Yam co-founded 13 years ago, has been overhauling its user features after laying off 20% of its staff in January. The company published an extensive update roadmap, including improvements to discovery for smaller creators. Losing Yam is another blow for Patreon, which effectively set the blueprint for the creator-subscription economy.
The hire suggests that OpenAI is exploring ways to enter the creator monetization business. With Yam and his team on board, the company may be able to develop tools that are critically valuable to creators and their communities. As the creator-subscription economy continues to evolve, OpenAI's move into this space could have significant implications for the industry.
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