Head of OpenAI division to begin studying Jewish Talmud as part of his professional development
July 14, 2026
Head of the new Strategic Futures division at OpenAI Dean Ball (Dean W. Ball) said that he intended to start studying the Talmud, considering it an important stage of his professional development in the field of artificial intelligence policy.
In his message on the social network X Ball wrote: "In the life of every artificial intelligence policy specialist, there comes a time when he realizes that for further progress he needs to study the Talmud, and for me this moment has come this week."
Although the entry quickly spread on social networks, some publications mistakenly interpreted it as a recognition that OpenAI is allegedly developing its models based on the Talmud. In fact, it was exclusively about Ball's personal intention to turn to the Talmudic tradition of reasoning. He did not make any statements that Talmud or Kabbalah were used in the creation of GPT models.
In June 2026, Ball joined OpenAI as Head of Strategic Futures, the head of a new unit dealing with long-term strategy and public policy in the field of advanced artificial intelligence. The team is responsible for regulation, interaction with government agencies, risk assessment and formation of the company's internal policy.
Before joining OpenAI, Ball was known as an expert in public policy related to artificial intelligence. He worked as an advisor to the White House on AI, was a senior researcher at the Foundation for American Innovation and the author of analytical publications on the regulation of artificial intelligence. At the same time, his position in OpenAI is not related to the engineering development of the architecture of language models.
The Talmud has been considered one of the most complex intellectual traditions of text analysis for centuries. Its study is based on the comparison of different opinions, the search for hidden relationships, the consideration of alternative points of view and consistent logical reasoning.
That is why it is widely believed among scientists, lawyers, mathematicians and programmers that the Talmudic methodology contributes to the development of analytical thinking. Judging by Ball himself, he sees the study of the Talmud as a way to deepen his own skills of analysis and reasoning in the field of artificial intelligence policy.