‘Fortunate and humbled’ to work towards superintelligence

Sam Altman, CEO and Co-Founder OpenAIshared candid reflections on the company’s journey as it aims to achieve superintelligence.

At ChatGPT, which recently marked its second anniversary, Altman outlined OpenAI’s achievements, ongoing challenges, and vision for the future of AI.

“ChatGPT’s second birthday was just over a month ago, and now we’ve transitioned into the next paradigm of models that can do complex reasoning,” reflects Altman.

A bold mission to achieve AGI and super intelligence

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a clear, bold, mission: to develop AGI and ensure that it benefits all of humanity.

Altman and the founding team believe that AGI could become “the most influential technology in human history.” However, he recalls, the world was not particularly interested in his discovery at the time.

“At the time, very few people cared, and if they did, it was mostly because they believed we had no chance of success,” Altman explains.

Fast forward to 2022, OpenAI was still a relatively quiet research facility known at the time as ‘Chat with GPT-3.5’. Developers were exploring the capabilities of its API, and the excitement led to the idea of ​​launching a user-ready demo.

These demos led to the creation of ChatGPT, which Altman admits benefited from “compassionately” better branding than its initial name. When it launched on 30 November 2022, ChatGPT proved to be a tipping point.

“The launch of ChatGPT started a growth curve the likes of which we’ve never seen before – for our company, our industry and the world at large,” he says.

OpenAI has since witnessed an evolution marked by surprising interest not only in its tools but in the broader possibilities of AI.

Building at breakneck speed

Altman acknowledges that there have been significant challenges in building OpenAI into a global tech powerhouse.

“In the last two years, we’ve had to build an entire company, almost from scratch, around this new technology,” he notes, “there’s no way around this other than training people.”

Operating in uncharted waters, the OpenAI team often faced ambiguity—making decisions on the fly and dealing with inevitable mistakes.

“Building a company at such a high velocity with so little training is a messy process,” Altman explains. “It’s often two steps forward, one step back (and sometimes, one step forward and two steps back)”

Yet, despite the chaos, Altman credits the team’s resilience and ability to adapt.

OpenAI now has more than 300 million weekly active users, a sharp increase from the 100 million reported just a year ago. Much of this success lies in the organization’s ethos of learning by doing, which includes a “commitment to bring technology into the world that people really love and that solve real problems.”

‘Colossal failure of governance’

Of course, the journey so far has not been without turmoil. Altman describes a particularly difficult chapter in November 2023 when he was suddenly ousted as CEO, briefly hired. by MicrosoftOpenAI would be reinstated days later amid industry protests and employee protests.

Speaking openly, Altman highlights the need for better governance structures in organizations facing critical technologies like AI.

“The whole incident was, in my view, a colossal failure of governance by well-meaning people, myself included,” he admits. “Looking back, I definitely wish I had done things differently, and I believe I am a better, more thoughtful leader today than I was a year ago.”

The episode served as a stark reminder of the complexity of managing rapid growth and the stakes involved in AI development. It also inspires OpenAI to create new governance structures “that enable us to advance our mission of ensuring that AGI benefits all of humanity.”

Altman expressed deep gratitude for the support OpenAI received during the crisis from employees, partners and customers. “My biggest takeaway is how many people I have to thank and how many people I owe a debt of gratitude to,” he asserts.

Axis towards super intelligence

Looking ahead, Altman says OpenAI has begun to aim beyond AGI toward the development of “superintelligence”—AI systems that surpass human cognitive abilities.

“We are now confident that we know how to create AGI as we understand it traditionally,” shares Altman. OpenAI predicts that by the end of this year, AI agents will significantly “join the workforce,” revolutionizing industries with smart automation and companion systems.

Achieving superintendence would be particularly transformative for society, with the potential to accelerate scientific discoveries, but also the most significant risks.

“We believe in the importance of being world leaders on safety and alignment research … OpenAI cannot be an ordinary company,” he noted, stressing the need to approach innovation responsibly.

OpenAI’s strategy involves gradually introducing breakthroughs into the world, allowing society to adapt to the rapid evolution of AI. “Putting great tools in people’s hands repeatedly leads to great, widely-distributed results,” Altman argues.

Reflecting on the organization’s trajectory, Altman acknowledges that OpenAI’s path has been defined by both extraordinary successes and significant challenges—from scaling teams to navigating public scrutiny.

“Nine years ago, we really had no idea what we were going to end up being; Even now, we only kind of know,” he says.

What remains clear is his unwavering commitment to OpenAI’s vision. “Our vision will not change; Our strategy will continue to evolve,” claims Altman, attributing the company’s significant progress to the team’s willingness to rethink processes and embrace challenges.

As AI continues to reshape industries and everyday life, Altman’s central message is clear: Although the journey is easy, OpenAI remains steadfast in its mission to unlock the benefits of AI for all.

“How fortunate and humbled to be able to play a role in this work,” concludes Altman.

See also: OpenAI Funds $1 Million Study on AI and Ethics at Duke University

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Tags: agi, AI, artificial intelligence, development, ethics, open, Sam Altman, Super intelligence