ChatGPT's Sam Altman Says This Is the One Thing Keeps Him Up at Night Altman sat down with Oprah Winfrey to talk about his hopes, dreams, and fears for AI.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Oprah Winfrey interviewed OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a special that aired Thursday night on ABC.
- Altman said that the speed at which the world and the economy could change because of AI keeps him up at night.
- OpenAI was valued at $86 billion, but a Thursday Bloomberg report stated that the company intends to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation.
OpenAI announced its first AI model on Thursday that can reason, or solve complex problems on its own without copying the reasoning patterns of its training data, code-named Strawberry. That evening, the ChatGPT maker's CEO sat down with Oprah Winfrey in a special aired on ABC to discuss how he sees AI changing the world — and his biggest fear about the technology.
When Winfrey asked what keeps him up at night, Altman said it was "the rate of change in the world, in the economy" from AI.
"We haven't seen it yet," Altman said. "And just because we haven't seen that yet doesn't mean we can get complacent."
Even if ChatGPT reaches an ideal level of safety, OpenAI can't control how rapidly people adopt it and how it changes the world, Altman explained. ChatGPT became the fastest-growing app in the world in February 2023, hitting 100 million monthly active users within two months of launch.
"People want more and better and there [are] some strong forces at play here," Altman said.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
OpenAI was valued at $86 billion, but a Thursday Bloomberg report stated that the company intends to raise $6.5 billion at a $150 billion valuation. The CEO of OpenAI competitor Anthropic estimated in July that it takes about $100 million at the moment to develop an AI model, but he anticipates the cost rising as high as $10 billion in the next few years.
When asked where AI will take the world in the next decade, Altman says he sees the technology as a powerful force.
"I hope that in 10 years we are — all of us — we are limited by what we can imagine," Altman said. "We have this AI that can help us figure out anything. We have abundant energy that can help us reconfigure stuff in the world."
Altman gave the example of someone who wants to build a house. They could use AI to figure out what their dream home looks like and come up with ideas. Then the AI could invent robots that bring the vision to life by actually building the house.
Related: I Designed My Dream Home For Free With an AI Architect — Here's How It Works
AI architecture is still in its early stages, but the technology is capable of generating floor plans and interior and exterior renders based on a prompt. A community of 3D-printed homes is also nearing completion in Texas, with 25% of units sold.
Altman also personally ran into issues with a home he bought for $27 million in 2020. He filed a lawsuit in July against the developers.
Winfrey's AI special episode with Altman and other AI leaders like Bill Gates aired on ABC on Thursday evening. It is currently available to watch in full on Hulu.
Related: Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Is Back at the Company 'Pretty Much Every Day.' Here's What He's Working On.
