Sam Altman

CEO, Openai

Search every verified Sam Altman interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has been active in public discussions about the pace of AI development and its societal implications. In a March 2024 podcast, he discussed the company's approach to iterative deployment, stating that releasing ChatGPT was a controversial decision but that he believes democratizing access to AI is important. He also said that compute will be "the currency of the future" and that he does not believe any one person should have total control over OpenAI or AGI. In a June 2026 interview, Altman said that people are "right to be anxious" about AI, describing it as "one of the biggest" technological shifts. He added that the industry has "failed to articulate" how people will remain in control of their futures. Altman has also focused on infrastructure and healthcare. In June 2026, he spoke at the groundbreaking of "The Barn," a data center in Saline Township, Michigan, describing it as a site where "cancer gets cured" and where "hundreds of millions of students" could learn. In a May 2026 interview, he said he believes AI will help treat most diseases by 2035 and that the government should be doing AI research and longevity work. He also expressed concern about AI's impact on mental health, saying he is "increasingly worried" about societal-scale behavioral changes.