Bret Taylor

Co-founder & CEO; Chairman of the Board, OpenAI, Sierra

Search every verified Bret Taylor interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Bret Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Sierra and chairman of OpenAI's board, discussed the distinct nature of AI as a technology wave in a podcast appearance on April 23, 2025. He framed AI's impact by asking what it makes plentiful that was previously scarce, drawing parallels to how energy and food became widely accessible over time. Taylor also described how Sierra approached AI agents from first principles, noting that unlike traditional software that helps users be more productive, agents are designed to complete tasks on the user's behalf, which he likened to "hiring software" to accomplish a job. During the conversation, Taylor also commented on the economics of AI infrastructure, observing that the cost of building frontier models is dominated by capital expenditure on hardware and data centers rather than talent, despite media attention on hiring. He referenced recent earnings reports showing companies like Google increasing infrastructure spending by billions of dollars, contrasting this with the historically asset-light nature of software businesses. Taylor drew historical parallels to past technology transitions, suggesting that AI is prompting companies to reconsider their strategic positions in ways similar to earlier industry shifts.