I agree with your assessment of importance.
Unfortunately, OpenAI did not announce the partnership (neither on their Website nor on Twitter) and does not seem to have integrated a link to Upwork in any other place.
Additionally, the talent pool of pre-vetted talent is incredibly small. As of now, there are only 24 talents on Upwork’s dedicated OpenAi website.
I am a bit unsure if we should treat the fact that they have a full press announcement about a product that is in such an early stage as a small negative indicator. (We need at least to be wary about other press announcements and have a close look how advanced those products are)