OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes artificial intelligence will soon be smarter than humans in many sectors and is ready to hand over his job to an AI model when the time comes. In a recent interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner, Altman said he is enthusiastic about the day an AI model can serve as a better CEO of OpenAI than he can. "I think there will come a time when AI can be a much better CEO of OpenAI than me, and I will be nothing but enthusiastic the day that happens," he told in the interview.
Altman, who has a front-row seat to the latest AI developments, noted that while AI will destroy many jobs in the short term, new roles will emerge over time. He predicts these new jobs will focus on helping and caring for others, a uniquely human trait. "In the short term, AI will destroy a lot of jobs. In the long term, like every other technological revolution, I assume we will figure out completely new things to do," he said. Those jobs, he said, are likely going to revolve around helping others.
Next ten years could see "extraordinarily capable models"
Altman told WELT editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard that he would be "very surprised" if, by 2030, the world doesn't have "extraordinarily capable models that do things that we ourselves cannot do." He added that he expects a "similar rate of progress" in 2026 as what was seen in 2024 and 2025.
Altman, who used to spend more time on his farm driving tractors and picking crops before ChatGPT's rise, said he looks forward to returning to that life. In addition to his farm, he owns multimillion-dollar properties in San Francisco, Napa, and Hawaii.
Altman believes that humans' unique value isn't their intellectual capacity but their ability to care for one another. "Humans, human society, we have such main character energy, we don't really care that the machines are smarter than us," he said. "They already are."
Altman, who has a front-row seat to the latest AI developments, noted that while AI will destroy many jobs in the short term, new roles will emerge over time. He predicts these new jobs will focus on helping and caring for others, a uniquely human trait. "In the short term, AI will destroy a lot of jobs. In the long term, like every other technological revolution, I assume we will figure out completely new things to do," he said. Those jobs, he said, are likely going to revolve around helping others.
Next ten years could see "extraordinarily capable models"
Altman told WELT editor-in-chief Jan Philipp Burgard that he would be "very surprised" if, by 2030, the world doesn't have "extraordinarily capable models that do things that we ourselves cannot do." He added that he expects a "similar rate of progress" in 2026 as what was seen in 2024 and 2025.
Altman, who used to spend more time on his farm driving tractors and picking crops before ChatGPT's rise, said he looks forward to returning to that life. In addition to his farm, he owns multimillion-dollar properties in San Francisco, Napa, and Hawaii.
Altman believes that humans' unique value isn't their intellectual capacity but their ability to care for one another. "Humans, human society, we have such main character energy, we don't really care that the machines are smarter than us," he said. "They already are."
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