OpenAI Software Engineer Interview Experience — Rejected After the Recruiter Call, Before Any Technical Round

I was pretty surprised. I never expected to fail at this round.

A friend referred me. The role is not in the AI area, and it matches my current job by more than 80%.
When I scheduled the call with the recruiter, I asked if there was anything I needed to prepare. The recruiter said no preparation was needed, so I assumed it would be a very casual chat to get to know my basic info. These are the questions I got that day (not complete):

1. What I've been working on recently. My answer was a bit too general and didn't have much detail.
2. What I'm looking for. I said I want to keep working in this same field and briefly explained why. The recruiter then asked what my current level is and whether I've been promoted before. I feel I should have included that in my very first answer.
3. Work authorization.

The recruiter said on the spot that they would send me the scheduling link for the technical interview shortly, but three business days later I got a rejection email. I feel extremely frustrated. I was really looking forward to the interviews, and I never expected to be rejected before they even started. All I can say is: take the recruiter call seriously, everyone.