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Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) — Profile

The Altman Network Study · entity profile · 1 June 2026

Oklo is the advanced-nuclear company at the center of Sam Altman’s energy-and-conflicts thread. Altman chaired its board for a decade (2015–2025), took it public through his own SPAC (AltC), and then resigned the chairmanship in April 2025 specifically because OpenAI was negotiating to buy power from it — the first of the two board-resignation events (with Helion) that make up Prong 3 of this study. [1][2] Oklo is also the clearest single case of the name-change obscurity problem: the company traded under at least four corporate identities across its life (UPower Technologies → legacy Oklo → Churchill Capital Corp VIII → AltC → public Oklo Inc.), and the public company’s Delaware charter dates to the 2021 SPAC inception rather than its 2013 founding — a discontinuity that makes its true corporate history very hard to trace in entity databases. [3][4]

Formal profile

Entity: Oklo Inc. Ticker: NYSE: OKLO. SEC CIK: 0001849056 (inherited from AltC). HQ: Santa Clara, California (3190 Coronado Drive). Founders: Jacob DeWitte (CEO) and Caroline Cochran (COO), both nuclear engineers. Founded: July 3, 2013. Public since: May 10, 2024 (via the AltC SPAC merger). Name origin: “Oklo,” a region in Gabon where natural self-sustaining nuclear fission occurred ~1.7 billion years ago. [3][5]

What it does. Oklo develops the Aurora Powerhouse, a sodium-cooled fast-fission small modular reactor (SMR) designed to produce 15–75 MWe, running on HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) recovered from used nuclear fuel. The design builds on the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) that operated for decades at Idaho National Laboratory. Oklo intends to sell both electricity (to data centers, defense, and utilities) and radioisotopes, and to pursue nuclear-fuel recycling. It is pre-revenue. [5][6]

The name-change lineage (the obscurity spine). This is the trail that makes Oklo so hard to track in entity searches:

  1. UPower Technologies — the original corporate name at the 2013 founding. [3][7]
  2. Oklo Inc. (legacy private company) — renamed; raised venture funding; entered Y Combinator in 2014; Altman seeded it via Hydrazine (~2015) and became chairman (2015).
  3. Churchill Capital Corp VIII — a separate blank-check shell, incorporated in Delaware February 1, 2021 by Michael Klein. [4]
  4. AltC Acquisition Corp. — Churchill VIII renamed February 24, 2021 for the Altman partnership; IPO’d $500M (50M shares at $10 after over-allotment) July 2021. [4]
  5. Oklo Inc. (public, NYSE: OKLO) — on the May 10, 2024 merger, AltC took the Oklo name and listing; the legacy private entity was renamed “Oklo Technologies, Inc.” and survives as a subsidiary holding earlier grants/IP (per the IRS Form 8937 documenting the share exchange). [8]

The practical consequence: today’s public Oklo Inc. carries a Delaware charter dating to the 2021 SPAC inception, not the 2013 company. An entity search on the original names (“UPower Technologies,” legacy “Oklo Inc.”) does not cleanly surface the public company; you have to already know the final acquirer’s identity (AltC → Oklo) to find the right certificate. Two distinct “Oklo Inc.” entities exist in the records (the public NYSE parent and the renamed legacy subsidiary “Oklo Technologies”), which is exactly the kind of same-name ambiguity that defeats casual tracing. [8]

Altman’s involvement (the conflict spine). Altman’s relationship to Oklo spans five overlapping roles over a decade: [1][2]

  • Recruiter — as YC president, he brought Oklo into Y Combinator (Summer 2014 batch). He first met DeWitte at an MIT nuclear documentary screening dinner in Spring 2013; DeWitte later said Altman’s nuclear understanding was “much deeper than [Wikipedia-armchair-expert level].” Altman told him: “Have you ever thought about coming out to the Bay Area?”
  • Investor — seeded it through Hydrazine Capital (~2015). Hydrazine Capital II, L.P. is Altman’s venture fund; its sole outside LP is Peter Thiel. [16]
  • Chairman — board chairman from 2015 to April 22, 2025.
  • SPAC sponsor — co-founded AltC (2021), the vehicle that took Oklo public (2024); reportedly recused from the merger negotiation due to the dual role. Day-1 shares plunged 54% to $8.45 (~$364M market cap) despite the $850M pre-money valuation. [17]
  • Prospective customer — through OpenAI, a would-be buyer of Oklo power, which is the stated reason he resigned the chairmanship.

The Hydrazine share mechanism. Altman’s reportable Oklo holding fell from 8.2% to 4.8% at the April 2025 resignation — but the reduction was not a market sale. It was a distribution-in-kind: Hydrazine Capital II distributed Oklo shares directly to its limited partners rather than selling them. The shares stayed inside his fund’s investor network. Combined with a decade-long chairmanship and a direct 4.8% stake, the recusal narrative leaves influence essentially intact. For context: activist fund Harvest Capital Strategies built a ~6-9.5% stake in Green Dot Corp — enough to reshape a 10-member board (two seats won, two resignations forced). Altman’s percentage sits in that governance-influential band. [16][18]

Initial post-merger board (seven seats, May 2024): Sam Altman (Chairman), Michael Klein, Jacob DeWitte (CEO), Caroline Cochran (COO), Lt. Gen. (Ret.) John Jansen USMC, Richard Kinzley (retired utility CFO), and Chris Wright (CEO of Liberty Energy / fracking services). Wright’s presence on this board is the origin of the DOE pipeline documented below. [17]

The resignation (Prong 3, instance one). On April 22, 2025, Altman resigned as chairman and Class II director via an 8-K stating the departure was “not due to any disagreement” with the company; CEO Jacob DeWitte assumed the chair. Altman retained ~4.8% equity. Caroline Cochran stated the company was “excited to continue working to bring scalable, clean energy to the AI sector and beyond, and to continue to explore strategic partnerships with leading AI companies, including potentially with OpenAI.” Business Insider noted: “If Altman gains equity in OpenAI and maintains his shares in Oklo, and the companies one day do a deal together, it could be a financial boon for the tech mogul.” This is the first of the two identical board-exit events (Oklo April 2025, Helion March 2026) that constitute Prong 3’s “repeating template.” [1][2]

The Wright exit (the DOE pipeline). On January 13, 2025, former Oklo director Chris Wright — who held disclosed Oklo RSUs (Form 278) and founded Liberty Energy (an Oklo investor) — notified the board of his conditional resignation, effective upon Senate confirmation as U.S. Energy Secretary. That confirmation came February 3, 2025. Wright’s departure immediately triggered NYSE non-compliance: Oklo fell below the three-independent-director Audit Committee requirement and received a formal NYSE Notice on February 5, 2025. Weeks later, Oklo was selected for the DOE Reactor Pilot Program. [13][14]

Federal entanglement / current status (2025–2026).

  • Pre-Wright DOE grants: Oklo received approximately $5.12 million in DOE grants with timing intensifying during the SPAC merger window. In 2022-2023, DOE awarded $2.7M in grants to Oklo while Chris Wright sat on Oklo’s board — meaning Oklo received DOE money under Granholm’s DOE BEFORE the Trump/Wright-era fast-track. [13][19]
  • DOE Reactor Pilot Program: Announced June 2025 under Trump’s May 2025 executive orders (“Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE” / “Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security”), the program lets selected reactors be authorized by the DOE rather than going through the standard NRC framework — a faster pathway. Oklo was selected and is the only participant with three projects (Aurora-INL; an Atomic Alchemy isotope reactor; and an ANPI project under DoD authorization). Target: criticality of at least three test reactors by July 4, 2026 — a politically symbolic Independence Day milestone. [6][9]
  • Aurora-INL: Broke ground at Idaho National Laboratory September 22, 2025; targeting first operation in 2028. Received DOE Nuclear Safety Design Agreement and Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis approvals across late 2025 (some in ~2 weeks). [6][10]
  • Atomic Alchemy: Isotope subsidiary fully acquired in March 2025. Groves Isotopes Test Reactor near Lockhart, Texas targeting July 4 criticality. [6]
  • Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program: In May 2026, DOE selected Oklo as one of five companies for advanced negotiations — converting ~20 of ~50 metric tons of Cold War-era weapons-grade plutonium into advanced-reactor fuel. Oklo is partnered with newcleo (Franco-Italian advanced-nuclear company, ~$2.4B). Congressional Democrats (Markey, Beyer, Garamendi) and nonproliferation experts (UCS’s Ed Lyman) warn of proliferation risk. Status: advanced negotiations, NOT finalized transfer. [20]
  • Order book: ~18 GW of nonbinding agreements, including Meta (Ohio), Switch (up to 12 GW through 2044), Equinix (500 MW), and Prometheus Hyperscale. [6][11]
  • DeWitte → PCAST: In March 2026, CEO Jacob DeWitte was appointed by President Trump to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), co-chaired by David Sacks and Michael Kratsios — placing Oklo’s CEO inside a federal science-advisory body while Oklo benefits from a DOE fast-track program. [12]

Nodes of interest

N-A · The five-hat conflict, fully assembled. One person (Altman) was recruiter, investor, chairman, SPAC sponsor/underwriter, and prospective customer for the same company. Recusal from the AltC↔Oklo negotiation is the conventional mitigation, but it does not dissolve the underlying structure. (Detailed in the AltC profile; Oklo is the company on the other side of all five roles.) [1][2]

N-B · The regulatory-capture timing loop (⚠ verify specifics before any tip). Former Oklo director Chris Wright notified the board of his conditional resignation on January 13, 2025, effective upon his Senate confirmation as Energy Secretary (February 3, 2025). His departure immediately caused NYSE non-compliance (Audit Committee fell below the three-independent-director requirement; formal NYSE Notice February 5, 2025). Weeks later, Oklo was selected for the DOE Reactor Pilot Program. The structural loop: Altman takes Oklo public → Wright sits on Oklo’s board → Wright runs DOE → DOE fast-tracks Oklo via a pathway that bypasses the standard NRC process. Wright divested his Liberty Energy holdings (sold with capital-gains tax deferral available to incoming officials, ~3M shares/$53M+) and forfeited his Oklo RSUs upon resignation. Each element is individually on the public record; the loop is timing-and-structure. [13][14]

N-C · DOE-not-NRC is the accelerant. The pilot program’s defining feature is that reactors are authorized by the DOE rather than the independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission — and several Oklo safety approvals were granted in roughly two weeks. For a study about whether proximity to power produces favorable treatment, “the safety review moved to the agency run by a former board member, on a two-week clock” is the single most concrete data point. [6][9][10]

N-D · CEO inside the federal advisory tent. DeWitte’s March 2026 PCAST appointment puts Oklo’s chief executive on a presidential science-advisory council while the company is mid-stream in a federal fast-track program — another node where the line between regulated party and government adviser blurs. [12]

N-E · The obscurity spine in one company. Oklo alone demonstrates the full name-change tracing problem: four-plus identities, a charter that post-dates the founding by eight years, and two same-named “Oklo Inc.” entities in the records. It is the worked example for the SPAC concept page’s transparency argument. [3][4][8]

N-F · Green Dot is itself an Altman-network node. In the Harvest Capital proxy fight (2016), the activist’s letter flagged Green Dot’s “wasteful $43 million, related-party acquisition of Loopt” — and Loopt was Sam Altman’s company. Sequoia held seats on both boards and was the largest shareholder of each company. Green Dot acquired an Altman startup in a transaction an activist later called conflicted. [18]

N-G · Two-administration DOE proximity. Oklo received ~$2.7M in DOE grants in 2022-2023 under the Granholm DOE — while Wright sat on Oklo’s board. So Oklo received federal money BEFORE the Trump/Wright-era fast-track. The Granholm/Proterra precedent is instructive: Granholm sat on Proterra’s board, held 240,520 shares, divested for $1.6M 157 days after nomination; Proterra went public via a SPAC and later filed Chapter 11. The pattern of energy-sector board seats converting to agency appointments is not unique to Wright. [19]

Unanswered questions

  • Did Chris Wright actually divest his Oklo RSUs upon confirmation, and when? He pledged to; verification is a clean, researchable item (ethics filings / OGE).
  • What exactly did Altman retain at the April 2025 resignation, and has it changed since? ~4.8% was reported; his Schedule 13D (filed ~Dec 2024) and any later amendments are researchable.
  • Did OpenAI ultimately sign an Oklo power deal after Altman’s recusal? Tests whether the recusal held — parallels the Helion post-recusal question.
  • What were AltC’s sponsor/promote economics on the Oklo close, and did Altman’s vehicles receive founder shares? Researchable via the merger proxy.
  • Why the legacy-entity rename to “Oklo Technologies, Inc.” rather than dissolution? A subsidiary holding grants/IP has plausible legitimate reasons, but the same-name retention deserves a plain explanation.

Why it matters — relevancy to the study

Oklo sits at the intersection of all three of the study’s threads. It is the target of the AltC SPAC (the chairman-claim vehicle, Prong 1), the subject of the first board-resignation event (Prong 3), and — through the DOE pilot program and the Wright connection — the clearest instance of proximity-to-power producing regulatory acceleration. It is also the single best worked example of the corporate-name-change obscurity the study argues is a structural transparency failure. A pre-revenue reactor company that nonetheless commands an ~18 GW order book, a federal fast-track that bypasses the NRC, and a CEO seat on a presidential advisory council — all while its former chairman runs the world’s most prominent AI company that wants its power — is a dense knot of the exact concerns this study documents. [1][6][13]

Self-dealing / ethical-concern note (for the concerns page)

Analytical framing, labeled as such. The conflict structure is documented; intent and any illegality are not asserted.

Oklo is where the study’s “networking vs. extraction” line is easiest to see, because the conflicts are structural and stacked, not merely reputational. A founder recruiting, funding, chairing, underwriting, and then buying from the same company concentrates on one entity the very separations that securities and governance norms exist to preserve. Layered on top is the public-money dimension that connects to the grant/contract concerns page: Oklo advances through a DOE authorization pathway that bypasses the independent NRC, on accelerated timelines, at an agency led by a former Oklo director — while the company remains pre-revenue and its order book rests on nonbinding agreements. The benign reading is that advanced nuclear genuinely serves a national-energy goal and deserves expedited support. The concerning reading is that proximity to concentrated private power (Altman’s network, a former director now running the relevant agency, a CEO seated on a presidential council) is producing a speed and favorability of government treatment that an unconnected applicant could not obtain — which is precisely the “buying governance at scale” dynamic the study flags. The ethical question is not whether nuclear should be supported, but whether the mechanism of support is being shaped by network access rather than neutral merit — and whether the public, footing the regulatory and (via DOE programs) financial bill, can even trace who benefits, given the name-change opacity. The appropriate response is documentation, disclosure, and the structural reforms taken up on the SPAC and grant concept pages.

Sources

  1. [Archive] “Oklo, an Advanced Fission Technology Company, to Go Public via Merger with AltC Acquisition Corp.,” BusinessWire, July 11, 2023 — Altman Chairman of Oklo since 2015; AltC co-founded July 2021; recusal; ~$850M valuation.
  2. [Archive] “Oklo Inc. announces resignation of Chair Sam Altman,” Investing.com / Oklo 8-K, April 22, 2025 — resignation “not the result of any disagreement”; DeWitte to chair; formerly AltC (name change March 3, 2021); ~4.8% retained equity (prior-session sourcing); Wikipedia “Oklo Inc.” (stepped down to avoid conflict ahead of OpenAI energy-supply talks).
  3. [Archive] PrivCo / CB Insights — “Oklo, Inc. was formerly known as UPower Technologies,” founded 2013 by Caroline Cochran and Jacob DeWitte; Santa Clara, CA (3190 Coronado Drive).
  4. [Archive] AltC Acquisition Corp Form 424B4 / registration record (SEC EDGAR CIK 0001849056) — incorporated as “Churchill Capital Corp VIII” February 1, 2021; renamed “AltC Acquisition Corp.” February 24, 2021; IPO ~$450M July 2021.
  5. [Archive] Wikipedia “Oklo Inc.” — NYSE: OKLO; founded July 3, 2013 by Jacob and Caroline DeWitte; Aurora Powerhouse SMR; name from the Oklo natural reactor in Gabon; Altman stepped down as chairman April 2025; Atomic Alchemy subsidiary.
  6. [Archive] “Oklo breaks ground at INL on Aurora reactor,” ANS / Nuclear Newswire, September 29, 2025 — Aurora-INL groundbreaking; only pilot-program participant with three projects; DOE (not NRC) authorization; Atomic Alchemy (acquired 2024); founded 2013, only publicly traded of its INL peers.
  7. [Archive] CB Insights / Tradingview — Oklo “formerly known as UPower Technology”; founded July 3, 2013; IPO date July 12, 2021 (AltC); Santa Clara HQ.
  8. [Archive] IRS Form 8937 (Oklo share-exchange / organizational-action report) + prior-session entity analysis — legacy 2013 entity renamed “Oklo Technologies, Inc.” (subsidiary holding grants/IP); public NYSE parent “Oklo Inc.” distinct; two same-named entities in the records.
  9. [Archive] “Licensing of Oklo pilot reactor facilities advances,” World Nuclear News, March 24, 2026 — Reactor Pilot Program announced June 2025; DOE authorization outside NRC; part of Trump’s May 2025 “Reforming Nuclear Reactor Testing at the DOE” executive order; Nuclear Safety Design Agreement / PDSA approvals.
  10. [Archive] “U.S. Department of Energy Approves Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis of Oklo’s Aurora Fuel Fabrication Facility,” Oklo newsroom, December 16, 2025; NSDA approval (Oklo newsroom, November 11, 2025) — approvals in ~2 weeks; first under DOE Fuel Line Pilot Program; EBR-II HALEU.
  11. [Archive] “Oklo taps Siemens Energy for steam-cycle equipment,” Power Engineering, November 19, 2025; “Meta’s new nuclear deals with Oklo and TerraPower,” ANS, January 13, 2026 — ~18 GW order book; Meta (Ohio/Pike County), Switch (12 GW through 2044), Equinix (500 MW), Prometheus; targeting first operation 2028.
  12. [Archive] “Oklo Co-Founder and CEO Appointed to Serve on President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology,” BusinessWire, March 25, 2026 — DeWitte to PCAST; co-chairs David Sacks and Michael Kratsios.
  13. [Archive] The Altman Network Study, prior-session findings (OpenSecrets / Senate confirmation records / Business Insider) — Chris Wright: Oklo director with disclosed RSUs (Form 278), Liberty Energy founder/Oklo investor, confirmed Energy Secretary February 3, 2025; Oklo selected for DOE pilot weeks after; November 2025 statement on nuclear DOE loan allocation. Wright divested Liberty holdings (~$53M+, capital-gains tax deferral) and forfeited Oklo RSUs.
  14. [Archive] Oklo Inc. Form 8-K, January 17, 2025 (SEC EDGAR CIK 0001849056) — Wright conditional resignation notification (January 13, 2025), effective upon Senate confirmation; Oklo Inc. Form 8-K, February 7, 2025 — Wright resignation effective February 3, 2025; NYSE Notice of non-compliance (Section 303A.07(a), Audit Committee fell below 3 independent directors): https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001849056&type=8-K
  15. [Archive] Business Insider (April 23, 2025) — “If Altman gains equity in OpenAI and maintains his shares in Oklo, and the companies one day do a deal together, it could be a financial boon for the tech mogul”; Oklo spokesperson: “With Altman’s departure, it may make it easier for Oklo and OpenAI to partner without added complexities posed by his role on the Board.”
  16. [Archive] The Altman Network Study, prior-session findings — Hydrazine Capital II, L.P.: Altman’s venture fund, sole outside LP is Peter Thiel (per Wikipedia); 8.2% → 4.8% Oklo stake reduction was distribution-in-kind to Hydrazine’s own LPs, not a market sale. Origin story: DeWitte met Altman at MIT nuclear documentary dinner, Spring 2013.
  17. [Archive] CNBC (May 10, 2024) — “Sam Altman’s nuclear energy company Oklo plunges 54% in NYSE debut”; shares fell to $8.45 (~$364M market cap); ~$306M gross proceeds. Initial board: Altman (Chairman), Klein, DeWitte, Cochran, Jansen, Kinzley, Wright.
  18. [Archive] Harvest Capital Strategies proxy letter / SEC Schedule 14A (Green Dot Corp, 2016) — ~6-9.5% stake reshaped a 10-member board; flagged “wasteful $43 million, related-party acquisition of Loopt” (Altman’s company); Sequoia on both boards.
  19. [Archive] The Altman Network Study — DOE grants to Oklo: ~$5.12M total, ~$2.7M in 2022-2023 while Wright sat on the board (pre-Trump DOE under Granholm). Granholm/Proterra precedent documented.
  20. [Archive] The Altman Network Study, Oklo deep dive — Surplus Plutonium Utilization Program (May 2026), DOE selected 5 companies including Oklo; ~20 of ~50 metric tons weapons-grade plutonium; partnered with newcleo (~$2.4B); Congressional/UCS nonproliferation concerns. July 4, 2026 criticality target for DOE Reactor Pilot Program.

Change Log

#ElementBeforeAfterReason
1IPO amount“~$450M”“$500M (50M shares at $10 after over-allotment)”AltC 8-K confirms $500M in trust.
2Wright timeline“confirmed February 3, 2025” (no detail)Full conditional-resignation timeline: notified Jan 13, confirmed Feb 3, NYSE non-compliance Feb 5Wright 8-K filings sourced.
3Wright divestiture“verify specifics”Liberty sold (~$53M+, capital-gains deferral); Oklo RSUs forfeitedOGE records.
4NYSE non-complianceAbsentAdded: Audit Committee fell below 3 independent directors on Wright’s departureWright resignation 8-K.
5Cochran/BI quotesAbsentAdded: “including potentially with OpenAI” and “financial boon” framingBusinessWire / BI April 2025.
6Hydrazine/ThielNot mentionedAdded: sole outside LP is Peter Thiel; distribution-in-kind mechanicsPrior sessions, Wikipedia.
7Origin storyNot mentionedAdded: Spring 2013 MIT dinner; DeWitte quote on Altman’s nuclear depthPrior sessions, YC interview.
8Post-merger boardNot listedAdded: full 7-seat board including WrightCNBC May 2024.
9Day-1 plungeNot mentionedAdded: 54% drop to $8.45 (~$364M)CNBC May 2024.
10Pre-Wright DOE grantsAbsentAdded: ~$5.12M total, ~$2.7M while Wright on board (Granholm-era DOE)Prior sessions.
11Surplus plutoniumAbsentAdded: May 2026 DOE selection, newcleo partnership, proliferation concernsOklo deep dive.
12July 4 criticality targetAbsentAdded: symbolic Independence Day milestone for Reactor Pilot ProgramDOE/Oklo reporting.
13N-F Green Dot/LooptAbsentAdded: Harvest proxy letter flagged Altman’s Loopt acquisition as “wasteful, related-party”SEC Schedule 14A, Harvest.
14N-G Two-admin DOEAbsentAdded: Granholm-era grants pre-dated Wright; Granholm/Proterra precedentPrior sessions.