Portrait — 8 things to know about Sam Altman, the man behind the ChatGPT phenomenon (OpenAI)

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He runs the startup that started the exponential rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), some even compare him to visionaries like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. At 39, Sam Altman has only one goal in mind: to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), that is, capable of equaling humans in all tasks. And he is pretty well on his way to achieving it.

He knew how to take apart a Macintosh at age 8

Born on April 22, 1985 in Chicago, Illinois, Sam Altman grew up 300 miles away in St. Louis, Missouri. Considered precocious, he already knew how to program and disassemble a Macintosh by the age of eight. Although he was brilliant throughout his academic career, he dropped out of his computer science studies at the prestigious Stanford University after two years.

According to him, his poker games taught him more than his teachers, helping him manage decision-making and risk assessment in the business world.

Loopt, his first application

This was the beginning of an entrepreneurial adventure that would take him far. In 2005, at just 19 years old, Sam Altman co-founded the Loopt app, a geolocated social network, with the ambition of revolutionizing the way users connect with their friends in real time.

Loopt was sold in 2012 to Green Dot Corporation for $43.4 million. His legacy still lives on today in many modern platforms.

Serial investor

The same year, Sam Altman co-founded Hydrazine Capital with his brother, Jack Altman. The fund invests in early-stage companies, focusing on software, information technology and real estate. Its most notable investment is probably Stripe, the fintech company specializing in online payments.

In 2011, Sam Altman became a part-time partner at Y Combinator (YC), a renowned startup incubator and venture capital firm. He became a full-time partner in 2012 and then president in 2014. During his tenure, he significantly increased YC's reach and impact. His most significant investments include Airbnb, Reddit, Dropbox, and DoorDash.

Altman stepped down as president in 2019, before rejoining in 2021. However, he had to choose between that position and his role at a certain OpenAI.

Contested management at OpenAI

Sam Altman is of course one of the co-founders of OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT. He has been its CEO since 2019. It was the adventure that propelled him to the forefront, as the company has experienced such a crazy rise. Valued at $157 billion, it is among the three most valuable private companies in the world.

The company has established a colossal partnership with Microsoft, and continues to deploy its artificial intelligence tools to users around the world. However, the atmosphere seems less favorable internally. Sam Altman has faced intense criticism from his colleagues, with some even trying to oust him as CEO in November 2023.

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Since then, several members of his team, including his right-hand men, have decided to jump ship to start their own AI startups. Some have directly criticized Sam Altman for his approach to AI deployment, judging it to be far too fast and prioritizing profit over risk mitigation.

Despite these reprimands, the leader assures that he wants a safe and secure deployment of AI. He has even agreed to have the American Institute for AI Security evaluate his new models before their public release. At the same time, he has expressed reservations about regulating the technology, fearing that it would slow down innovation.

On the road to superintelligence

With OpenAI, Sam Altman wants to develop general artificial intelligence, which he considers an intermediate step before superintelligence, that is to say an AI that far exceeds human cognitive capacities. He believes that this technology will increase human abilities to solve major problems.

« JI think the future will be so bright that no one can do it justice by trying to write it now; a defining characteristic of the age of intelligence will be massive prosperity ,” he predicts in his personal blog. ” Even if it will be gradual, astounding triumphs – solving climate change, establishing a space colony, and discovering all of physics – will be forthcoming. will eventually become commonplace ,” he continues.

These remarks, however, are put into perspective by many experts, many of whom believe that Sam Altman’s predictions are too optimistic and that such capacities will not be achieved for many years.

Elon Musk’s enemy

Sam Altman started his adventure at OpenAI alongside Elon Musk, who is one of the co-founders of the startup. After an internal conflict, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla decided to slam the door on the company. He is now at the head of its competitor xAI.

Musk has filed a complaint four times against OpenAI, specifically targeting Sam Altman. He believes that the entrepreneur has strayed from the initial objective of the company, which was to develop AI for the benefit of humanity. A dispute that is still raging, although Altman is much more discreet about it than his former partner.

Interest in nuclear fusion

Sam Altman is very interested in clean energy, and in particular nuclear fusion. While this energy cannot yet be exploited on a large scale, the head of OpenAI considers it essential to cover the astronomical energy needs generated by generative AI.

With this in mind, he personally invested $375 million in Helion Energy, an American company specializing in nuclear fusion. He even sits on its board of directors.

Sam Altman is a billionaire

Sam Altman is now a billionaire, with a fortune estimated at $2 billion. A sum that is largely attributed to his investments, with stakes in more than 400 companies.

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