Joey Bertschler, a former OpenAI employee, is building a crypto – powered earned wage access system through his new startup, Volante Chain.
In an interview with Cointelegraph at German Blockchain & AI Week, Bertschler said he previously worked at OpenAI before the launch of ChatGPT, helping business customers use early – stage AI tools. He later decided to switch industries and focus on financial technology, creating a blockchain – based platform that allows same – day wage access for employees.
Volante allows employees at participating companies to be paid their daily wage on the same day, rather than waiting until the end of the month. Bertschler described the current norm as “30 days of taking your freedom away, of choosing what to do with your money,” particularly for those living paycheck to paycheck.
The platform uses blockchain to enable seamless record – keeping in a verified ledger and reduce costs, which allows for low fees, he said.
Volante uses artificial intelligence to help predict employer defaults and assess risk in real time. Bertschler described the system as hybrid: partially AI – driven with human oversight and some legal review. He said AI is used for pattern detection and decision – making support, but is not fully autonomous. “There’s also semi – automation — some lawyers involved, some human oversight,” he said.
Bertschler told Cointelegraph that Volante has raised about $2 million so far from private investors. With this funding, he expects the company to be able to run for about five years without requiring further capital injections due to the company’s lean team.
He said Volante is “deploying to a couple thousand test users in Vietnam and Japan,” with plans for expansion in the future. He said this is the minimum viable product stage for the company, comparing it to a closed beta.
Bertschler said his decision to leave OpenAI and subsequent fintech pivot was the consequence of good offers from other companies and internal policies that he did not appreciate. As an Austrian national, he claimed non – US employees faced limited advancement opportunities and were excluded from stock option plans.
He added that the closed nature of the firm prevented workers from showcasing their code on GitHub, which allows for long – term employee growth.
Related topic:
