“Determination is what we look for the most. It turns out that it’s even more important than being smart”
–
Sam Altman
Today we will introduce you to the path and story of Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI and also a venture capitalist. You will find out who he really is and how it all begins.
Who is Sam Altman?
Sam Altman is an American entrepreneur and investor. From a young age, he was fascinated by computers and programming. A curious fact is that at the age of 8, he already knows how to write code and disassemble computers, reported The New Yorker.
Career path
Sam Altman started his career as an app developer. Enrolled to study Computer Science at Stanford University. Drops out of university just before receiving his degree. The reason for this is his goal to create his company together with his colleagues. A little later, he managed to realize this venture of his.
First steps in entrepreneurship and the technological world
The first startup he created was Loopt. This application skyrockets his career. Loopt was created in 2005 and allowed smartphone owners to share their location with other users of their choice. However, in 2012, the founders sold the company to Green Dot Corporation for $43.4 million.
For a period of time, Sam Altman gave up running technology companies and ventured into the management of a venture capital company that finances startups.
It is interesting that the famous programmer and entrepreneur who co-founded Y Combinator, Paul Graham, chose Sam Altman as his successor in 2014. The move puts Altman on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list. Y Combinator invests in companies like Airbnb, (which is valued at $105.82 billion) and Dropbox, (which is valued at $8.31 billion).
Creation of OpenAI, purpose and goals of the company
The young entrepreneur stepped down as a president of Y Combinator to focus his efforts entirely on OpenAI. An interesting fact is that the company, established in 2015, was originally a non-profit research center. It was later transformed into a “capped profit company”.
It is curious that Microsoft invested more than $10 billion dollars in the company led by Altman.
OpenAI aims to create artificial general intelligence (AGI) that is either equal to human intelligence or smarter than humans. However, this decision is sparking wide-ranging discussions among experts, tech industry leaders, politicians, investors, and citizens alike, as it raises the question of how AI might be regulated.
AI regulation
The American entrepreneur calls for a worldwide systemic regulation of AI, saying that the regulation of this field is still in the initial stage of discussions, and it is time to move on to actions.
“We think that regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful models”, Sam Altman told the Senate Oversight Committee.
According to the CEO, AI will affect all of us, so world leaders need to come together and start taking steps towards regulating this area.
“A misaligned superintelligent AGI could cause grievous harm to the world”, added the founder of Open AI.
In conclusion, Sam Altman considers that education is one of the key areas where AI can be useful. He believes strongly in the idea that everyone will be able to improve the quality of their lives thanks to the limitless possibilities that AI provides.
