Sam Altman, CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, has shared candid reflections on the company’s journey as it aims to achieve superintelligence.
With ChatGPT recently marking its second anniversary, Altman outlines OpenAI’s achievements, ongoing challenges, and vision for the future of AI.
“The second birthday of ChatGPT was only a little over a month ago, and now we have transitioned into the next paradigm of models that can do complex reasoning,” Altman reflects.
A bold mission to achieve AGI and superintelligence
OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a clear, albeit bold, mission: to develop AGI and ensure it benefits all of humanity.
Altman and the founding team believed AGI could become “the most impactful technology in human history.” Yet, he recalls, the world wasn’t particularly interested in their quest back then.
“At the time, very few people cared, and if they did, it was mostly because they thought we had no chance of success,” Altman explains.
Fast forward to 2022, OpenAI was still a relatively quiet research facility testing what was then referred to as ‘Chat With GPT-3.5.’ Developers had been exploring the capabilities of its API, and the excitement sparked the idea of launching a user-ready demo.
This demo led to the creation of ChatGPT, which Altman acknowledges benefited from “mercifully” better branding than its initial name. When it launched on 30 November 2022, ChatGPT proved to be a tipping point.
“The launch of ChatGPT kicked off a growth curve like nothing we have ever seen—in our company, our industry, and the world broadly,” he says
OpenAI has since witnessed an evolution marked by staggering interest, not just in its tools but in the broader possibilities of AI.
Building at breakneck speed
Altman admits that scaling OpenAI into a global tech powerhouse came with significant challenges.
“In the last two years, we had to build an entire company, almost from scratch, around this new technology,” he notes, adding, “There is no way to train people for this except by doing it.”
Operating in uncharted waters, the OpenAI team often faced ambiguity—making decisions on the fly and dealing with the inevitable missteps.
“Building up a company at such high velocity with so little training is a messy process,” Altman explains. “It’s often two steps forward, one step back (and sometimes, one step forward and two steps back).”
Yet, despite the chaos, Altman credits the team’s resilience and ability to adapt.
OpenAI now boasts over 300 million weekly active users, a sharp increase from the 100 million reported just a year ago. Much of this success lies in the organisation’s ethos of learning by doing, combined with a commitment to putting “technology out into the world that people genuinely seem to love and that solves real problems.”
‘A big failure of governance’
Of course, the journey so far hasn’t been without turmoil. Altman recounts a particularly difficult chapter from November 2023 when he was suddenly ousted as CEO, briefly recruited by Microsoft, only to be reinstated by OpenAI days later amid industry backlash and staff protests.
Speaking openly, Altman highlights the need for better governance structures in organisations tackling critical technologies like AI.
“The whole event was, in my opinion, a big failure of governance by well-meaning people, myself included,” he admits. “Looking back, I certainly wish I had done things differently, and I’d like to believe I’m a better, more thoughtful leader today than I was a year ago.”
The episode served as a stark reminder of the complexity of managing rapid growth and the stakes involved in AI development. It also drove OpenAI to forge new governance structures “that enable us to pursue our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits all of humanity.”
Altman expressed deep gratitude for the support OpenAI received during the crisis from employees, partners, and customers. “My biggest takeaway is how much I have to be thankful for and how many people I owe gratitude towards,” he emphasises.
Pivoting towards superintelligence
Looking forward, Altman says OpenAI is beginning to aim beyond AGI towards the development of “superintelligence”—AI systems that far surpass human cognitive capabilities.
“We are now confident we know how to build AGI as we have traditionally understood it,” Altman shares. OpenAI predicts that by the end of this year, AI agents will significantly “join the workforce,” revolutionising industries with smarter automation and companion systems.
Achieving superintelligence would be especially transformative for society, with the potential to accelerate scientific discoveries, but also poses the most significant dangers.
“We believe in the importance of being world leaders on safety and alignment research … OpenAI cannot be a normal company,” he notes, underscoring the need to approach innovation responsibly.
OpenAI’s strategy includes gradually introducing breakthroughs into the world, allowing for society to adapt alongside AI’s rapid evolution. “Iteratively putting great tools in the hands of people leads to great, broadly-distributed outcomes,” Altman argues.
Reflecting on the organisation’s trajectory, Altman admits OpenAI’s path has been defined by both extraordinary breakthroughs and significant challenges—from scaling teams to navigating public scrutiny.
“Nine years ago, we really had no idea what we were eventually going to become; even now, we only sort of know,” he says.
What remains clear is his unwavering commitment to OpenAI’s vision. “Our vision won’t change; our tactics will continue to evolve,” Altman claims, attributing the company’s remarkable progress to the team’s willingness to rethink processes and embrace challenges.
As AI continues to reshape industries and daily life, Altman’s central message is evident: While the journey has been anything but smooth, OpenAI is steadfast in its mission to unlock the benefits of AI for all.
“How lucky and humbling it is to be able to play a role in this work,” Altman concludes.
See also: OpenAI funds $1 million study on AI and morality at Duke University
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