Original author: Sam Altman
Original translation: Deep Tides TechFlow
Just over a month ago, we passed the second birthday of ChatGPT, and now we have entered a new era of models capable of complex reasoning. The new year always prompts reflection, and I also want to take this opportunity to share some personal insights about this journey and some of the gains along the way.
As we get closer to AGI, now is an important moment to reflect on the progress our company has made. There is still much unknown to explore and many questions yet to be resolved; everything is still in its infancy. But compared to when we first started, we have learned a lot.
We founded OpenAI about nine years ago because we believe that AGI is possible and that it has the potential to be the most influential technology in human history. We hope to find ways to build AGI and ensure that it can broadly benefit humanity; at the same time, we also aspire to write our own page in history. Our goals are extremely ambitious, and we firmly believe that this work can give back to society in equally grand ways.
At that time, almost no one cared about AGI. If anyone was paying attention, most did so because they thought we would not succeed.
In 2022, OpenAI was still a low-profile research lab developing a project temporarily called 'Chat With GPT-3.5'. (We were indeed far better at research than naming.) We noticed that developers really enjoyed the experience of conversing with the model through the API's playground feature. Therefore, we thought that building a demonstration around this conversational experience would not only show people the possibilities of the future but also help us improve the model's performance and safety.
In the end, we decided to name it ChatGPT and officially launched it on November 30, 2022.
We always vaguely knew that one day the AI revolution would come, but we did not know what that moment would look like. To our surprise, this release became that turning point.
The release of ChatGPT triggered an unprecedented wave of growth—both in our company, across the industry, and globally. We finally saw the immense potential brought by AI and could foresee that more breakthroughs are on the way.
The road has not been smooth, and making the right choices has never been easy.
In the past two years, we have built an entire company around this new technology from almost scratch. In facing such challenges, the only way to learn is to explore through practice. When the technology itself is brand new, no one can tell you exactly how to do it.
Building a company at such a rapid pace, with almost no existing experience to draw from, was bound to be chaotic. We often took two steps forward and one step back (sometimes even one step forward and two steps back). Although mistakes were constantly corrected along the way, there were almost no ready-made manuals or clear directional guidance when pioneering new territories. Moving quickly in unknown fields is an exciting experience, but it is also a huge source of pressure for everyone involved. Conflicts and misunderstandings are inevitable.
These years have been the most fulfilling, interesting, enriching, yet also the most exhausting and stressful years of my life. Especially the past two years, which could even be described as the most difficult time, but my deepest feeling remains one of gratitude. I know that one day, when I retire and sit on a farm watching plants grow, feeling a bit bored, I will remember the time when I had the opportunity to realize my childhood dream; what a lucky thing that is. I try to remind myself of this every Friday, even when, by 1 PM, seven things have already gone wrong.
About a year ago on a Friday, I was caught off guard when I was suddenly fired during a video call, with absolutely no warning. Just after we hung up, the board immediately released a blog post announcing the news. I was in a hotel room in Las Vegas at the time, and the feeling was almost indescribable, like a beautiful dream suddenly turned into a nightmare.
Being publicly fired without any warning led to hours of chaos, followed by days full of uncertainty. The strangest part was the state of 'information confusion'. None of us could get clear answers about what had happened or why.
In my view, this whole incident was a governance failure, even though everyone involved acted in good faith, including myself. Looking back, I certainly wish I had handled things differently at that time. I also like to believe that I am more mature and thoughtful today than I was a year ago.
This incident made me realize that a board needs to have diverse perspectives and rich experiences to tackle complex challenges. Good governance must be built on a foundation of deep trust and credibility. I am grateful that many people worked together to establish a stronger governance system for OpenAI, enabling us to continue pursuing the mission of AGI for the benefit of all humanity.
In the past year, my biggest realization is that I have so much to be grateful for, and so many people to thank: I thank all my colleagues at OpenAI who chose to invest their time and energy into realizing this dream; I thank our friends who supported us in times of crisis; I thank the customers and partners who trusted us, collaborated with us, and depended on our technology for success; and I thank those who have shown concern for me in my life.
After that, we re-engaged in our work in a more united and positive way. I am immensely proud of the focus we have demonstrated since then. We completed some of the most outstanding research work in OpenAI's history. Our weekly active users grew from about 100 million to over 300 million. Most importantly, we continued to launch technologies that people genuinely love and that can solve real problems.
Nine years ago, we had no idea what we would ultimately become. Even today, we only have a vague understanding of the future. The development of AI is filled with ups and downs, and we expect more challenges and opportunities ahead.
Some of these changes are delightful while others are full of challenges. The continuous stream of research breakthroughs is exhilarating, while many former skeptics have now become staunch supporters. Of course, we have also witnessed some colleagues leave and become our competitors. With the continuous expansion of the team, personnel turnover is inevitable, and OpenAI's rate of expansion is particularly remarkable. Startups typically experience personnel changes during each scale-up, and at OpenAI, such changes happen almost on a monthly basis. The changes of the past two years are almost equivalent to a decade of development for an ordinary company. When an industry-leading company grows at such a rapid pace, the goals and priorities of team members are bound to diverge. At the same time, as a leader in the industry, we inevitably become targets for various criticisms and attacks, especially under pressure from competitors.
Our vision has always remained unchanged, but our strategies will continue to adjust and evolve over time. For example, in the beginning, we had no idea we needed to build a product company; we thought we just needed to focus on excellent research. Similarly, we did not anticipate needing such a massive amount of funding to support our work. Now, we need to build many things that we could not even imagine a few years ago. And in the future, there will certainly be more new challenges waiting for us that we currently cannot foresee.
We are proud of the achievements we have made so far in research and technological applications and are committed to continuing in-depth exploration of safety and shared benefits. We firmly believe that the best way to make AI systems safe is to gradually and rhythmically roll them out to the world, allowing society enough time to adapt and evolve alongside the technology. We learn from practical applications and continuously improve the safety of our technology. We understand that it is crucial to become a leader in global safety and alignment research, and this research needs to be guided by real-world feedback.
Today, we are confident that we have a method for building AGI as traditionally defined. We believe that by 2025, we may see the first AI agents 'joining the workforce' and significantly boosting enterprise productivity. This will be a historic moment. We still firmly believe that gradually putting excellent tools in people's hands is the best way to achieve widespread and profound impact.
We have begun to set our sights on greater goals, namely the pursuit of true superintelligence. While we are passionate about our current products, our mission is to strive for that beautiful future. With superintelligence, we will be able to achieve all possible goals. Superintelligent tools will greatly accelerate scientific discovery and technological innovation, helping us solve complex problems that cannot be completed by human capability alone, thereby significantly enhancing societal wealth and prosperity.
Now, all of this may sound like science fiction, and even discussing it seems a bit crazy. But that's okay—we have faced similar situations before, and we are excited to welcome such challenges again. We are very confident that in the coming years, everyone will see the prospects we see and recognize how important it is to maintain a high degree of caution while maximizing universal benefits and empowerment. Given the potential and possibilities of our work, OpenAI is destined not to be an ordinary company.
Being able to participate in this endeavor makes me feel both lucky and truly honored.
(Thanks to Josh Tyrangiel for inspiring me. I really wish we could have had more time to communicate.)
During those days, many people put in tremendous effort for OpenAI and for me personally, but two individuals stood out particularly.
The help of Ron Conway and Brian Chesky far exceeded the requirements of their duties, to the point where I didn’t even know how to express my gratitude. I had heard about Ron's capabilities and relentless spirit long ago, and over the past few years, I have received countless help and advice from Brian.
But only in true moments of crisis, when fighting side by side with people, can you truly see their extraordinary capabilities. I can say without exaggeration that without their help, OpenAI might have collapsed. They worked tirelessly for days on end until the problem was completely resolved.
Despite their intense workload, they remained calm, exhibited clear strategic thinking, and provided extremely valuable advice. They prevented me from making several mistakes while not making any themselves. They utilized their extensive network to meet all needs and successfully navigated many complex situations. I am sure they did many things I was unaware of.
However, what touched me the most was their care, compassion, and support.
I once thought I knew how to support a founder and a company; to some extent, I did have some understanding. But I had never seen, nor heard of, support like theirs. Now I finally understand why they have such a legendary reputation. They truly stand out and fully deserve such accolades. They possess extraordinary abilities to provide help in critical moments and demonstrate unwavering commitment. Our tech industry is better because of them.
Of course, there are others like them. This is something particularly special in the tech industry, more important than people realize, and it keeps the entire industry running smoothly. I look forward to passing on this spirit.
From a more personal perspective, I especially want to thank Ollie for his support that weekend and always. He is unparalleled in every way; no one could find a better partner than him.
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