Jake Paul crossed paths with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at President Donald Trump’s second inauguration ceremony last year, Paul said in an interview with TBPN alongside his business partner, entrepreneur Geoffrey Woo. Paul endorsed Trump in the run up to the 2024 presidential election and has since revolved around his orbit, most recently sitting shoulder to shoulder with Vice President JD Vance at the Winter Olympics in Milan.
At the inauguration, Paul, naturally, had thoughts to exchange about social media with Altman. After all, the Paul brothers, Jake and Logan, famously parlayed their viral YouTube presences into professional careers, Jake as a boxer and Logan as a wrestler. Last year, Jake ranked third on Forbes’ Top Creators list, with earnings of about $50 million. A deal was soon in the offing, as Paul became the first celebrity to license his name, image, and likeness to Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video platform.
The internet was soon saturated with AI-generated iterations of Paul, portraying him, for instance, as a ballerina in a tutu, a pudgy robber at a fast-food store, or even clumsily applying makeup. While the deal sparked controversy and fanfare alike, it also reeled in over one billion impressions for a portfolio company part of Paul’s venture capital fund, Anti Fund.
