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Artificial intelligence
OpenAI Interview Questions
176 real questions reported from OpenAI interviews · updated Oct 2026.
- Questions
- 176
- Experiences
- 242
- Open roles
- 608
About OpenAI
OpenAI develops frontier AI models and products — ChatGPT, the OpenAI API, and multimodal systems — and pairs research with a fast-shipping product organization. Interviews lean toward realistic engineering tasks over contest-style puzzles, with a high bar for speed and correctness.
- Industry
- Artificial intelligence
- Founded
- 2015
- Size
- 4,000+ employees
- HQ
- San Francisco, CA
- Website
- openai.com
Company research
Read itOpenAI develops frontier AI models and products — ChatGPT, the OpenAI API, and multimodal systems — and pairs research with a fast-shipping product organization. Interviews lean toward realistic engineering tasks over contest-style puzzles, with a high bar for speed and correctness.
- Artificial intelligence
- San Francisco, CA
- Founded 2015
- Private equity
Covered in the research, each with its source
- Technology and AI
- Recent moves
- Competitors and position
OpenAI hiring insights
Computed from candidates’ write-ups and our OpenAI questions.
Reported outcomes
11%
of the 104 decided loops shared here ended in an offer.
Outcome mix
- Offer5%(11)
- Rejected38%(93)
- Still waiting57%(138)
Across the 242 of 242 shared loops that stated an outcome.
- Median rounds
- 2
- Last 12 months
- 240 loops
- Most recent
- Oct 2026
Self-reported by candidates who shared a OpenAI write-up. It describes those loops, not an application-to-offer rate. Read them.
What they ask
Topic mix
- Graphs18%(12)
- Math & Geometry12%(8)
- Hashing11%(7)
- Matrix8%(5)
- Other (16 topics)51%(33)
Across the 65 of 176 OpenAI questions tagged with a topic.
Difficulty mix
- Easy9%(14)
- Medium47%(75)
- Hard44%(71)
Across the 160 of 176 questions with a difficulty rating.
Interview guides6
Start hereOpenAI AI Engineer Interview ProcessData & AIFreeRead
OpenAI Infrastructure Engineer Interview Process
OpenAI
SoftwareFreeView interview guideOpenAI Machine Learning Engineer Interview Process
OpenAI
Data & AIFreeView interview guideOpenAI Research Scientist Interview Process
OpenAI
Data & AIFreeView interview guide
Open roles at OpenAI608
- Software Engineer, Plugin EcosystemSan Francisco · San Francisco, CANov 3
- Applied AI ArchitectMumbai Metropolitan Region · Singapore · Bengaluru East, Karnataka, IndiaNov 3
- Software Engineer, Safety EngineeringSan Francisco · San Francisco, CANov 3
- Applied AI Engineer, CodexSingapore · Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaNov 3
- Tech Lead Manager, EducationSan Francisco, CANov 3
Interview experiences242
View all- OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience (San Francisco, CA, 2026)SoftwareOct 20267 roundsOffer
- OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience (San Francisco, CA, 2026)SoftwareSep 20262 roundsRejected
- OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience (United Kingdom, 2026)SoftwareSep 20261 roundRejected
- OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience (San Francisco, CA, 2026)SoftwareSep 20265 roundsRejected
- OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience (United States)SoftwareSep 20263 roundsRejected
Interview questions176
Filter & trackFilter- Infection Spread SimulationAlgorithmFreeMedium
- GPU Credits IIAlgorithmMembersHard
- Snapshot Social GraphOOPMembersMedium
- Design Online Chess GameSystem DesignFreeMedium
- Design Cluster Message AggregationAlgorithmMembersHard
Frequently asked: OpenAI interviews
- What interview questions does OpenAI ask?
- Candidates have reported 176 questions from OpenAI interviews to TrueInterview: 61 algorithm, 44 system design, 32 object-oriented programming and 19 ai coding. Each one is filed under the round it came up in, with the month it was reported where a candidate gave one, and opens in the workspace that format calls for — an editor judged against hidden tests for coding and SQL, a whiteboard for system design.
- How recent are these OpenAI interview questions?
- The most recent OpenAI question on this page was reported in October 2026. A question shows the month a candidate reported it whenever that is known, so an entry that has gone stale is visible as one rather than presented as current.
- Which OpenAI interview rounds do these questions come from?
- The reported OpenAI questions on this page are filed under 3 rounds: Online Assessment, Phone Screen and Onsite. Filtering by a round gives you the questions candidates were asked at that stage rather than the whole bank at once.
- How hard are OpenAI's interview questions?
- Of the 160 rated OpenAI questions on this page, the spread is 14 easy, 75 medium and 71 hard. Difficulty is the rating on the question itself, not a prediction of how a particular loop will go.
- Where do these OpenAI interview questions come from?
- From candidates who sat the interview. Some send us their questions by email or upload; the rest we summarize from interview experiences, on the public board or published elsewhere, then verify and file by company, format and round. Nothing covered by an NDA is accepted, and the sourcing rules are published in full at /methodology.
- Has anyone written up their OpenAI interview?
- Yes — 242 candidates have published an account of a OpenAI loop, covering the rounds they sat, what they were asked and how it ended. Each write-up has its own page and links to the questions it mentions.
- Is there a guide to the OpenAI interview process?
- There are 6 guides filed under OpenAI on this page, written round by round: what each stage covers, what it is assessing, and what to practise before it.
- Do I need an account to practise OpenAI questions?
- Browsing this page needs no account, and 33 of the 176 OpenAI questions listed here open in full for free. The rest are part of a paid plan, and every row says which it is before you click it.
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