Who is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman?
As Sam Altman grew up, he always understood the importance of being in the right situation, seizing the right moment, and connecting with the right group of people. Understanding the story of Ultraman's rise is crucial, because by understanding his identity and beliefs, we may be better able to answer a pressing question: Should we trust this man to oversee the development of this technology?
Since founding the location service Loopt at the age of 19, Ultraman has shown a strong pursuit of power. With his unique charisma and firm determination, he has won the support of many technology leaders, including Paul. Graham (Paul Graham), Peter. Peter Thiel and Elon. Elon Musk and others. His ability to handle problems and build relationships has been praised, but has also prompted some skepticism and criticism. Although he is committed to benefiting all mankind in OpenAI's vision, the way he manages the company has often been the focus of controversy.
Despite being a college dropout and often sporting his trademark cargo shorts or cardigan polo shirt, Altman has always managed to attract the attention of investors and achieve his goals. He once bluntly stated on his personal blog: “It’s amazing that you can bend the world to your will to a degree that most people haven’t even tried.
Ultraman's unique skill: extremely good at using power
On a Wednesday in November 2023, I (well-known technology reporter Ellen Huet) was in a dimly lit restaurant in San Francisco. The place was crowded and a lively party was taking place after an artificial intelligence conference. People were chatting in groups, and waiters shuttled among them, carrying delicate snacks. As I took a bite of the mushroom donut, a subtle whisper sounded in my ears: "Ultraman Sam is here."
I tried to search for him in the dim light. I have had several interactions with Altman. He has been involved in the entrepreneurial world for many years and is always friendly to reporters. Over time, he has become one of the most influential figures in Silicon Valley. As the CEO of OpenAI, he released ChatGPT at the end of 2022, making the company famous and its valuation soaring to US$86 billion, making it one of the most highly valued startups in the world. In the past few months, Ultraman has frequently appeared in major news headlines, becoming the focus of coverage by mainstream media. He has been dubbed the "King of ChatGPT", "Contemporary Oppenheimer" or "AI Overlord". He seems to have become the spokesperson for the future of artificial intelligence and frequently meets with big figures around the world.
Among the crowd, I caught a glimpse of him standing in a corner of the restaurant. Several guests were already surrounding him, and I decided to say hello to him. He was wearing a crisp suit and tie, more formal than I remembered him, but he seemed shorter than I remembered. As we shook hands, he looked at the conference badge on my chest with a smile and said, "Nice to meet you." I was surprised by his charisma and approachability. He seemed to remember me and already knew what I was working on. Therefore, I made a request and hoped to find a time to interview him. "Sure, it sounds like a great idea," he replied.
There were a few guests waiting to talk to him, so I politely stepped away. About ten minutes later, he also left the party. The next day, Altman continued his lecture tour and was active in major conferences as an artificial intelligence politician. At a high-profile international conference attended by world leaders, he gave a speech on artificial intelligence: "I firmly believe that this (AI) will be one of the most transformative and beneficial technologies in human history." It is undoubtedly our most significant technological revolution to date. I'm passionate about this and can't imagine a more exciting career. It is a great honor and pleasure for me to be a part of it. "Ultraman has no doubts about the coming changes and knows that he plays a pivotal role in this change.
However, less than 48 hours after I witnessed Altman attend the party, and 24 hours after he gave that important speech, shocking news came - he was fired from the OpenAI board of directors. This news surprised everyone, even Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest funder, was shocked. According to the OpenAI board of directors, their review found that Altman "was not always candid" in his communications with the board of directors. This news is like a shock bomb, becoming the most sensational technology news in 2023, which is unexpected. When the news broke on Friday afternoon, my colleagues and I immediately knew that this weekend was destined to be an uneventful one. Over the next few days, the news rolled in like a hurricane. OpenAI's board of directors suggested Altman had lied, then announced the appointment of a new CEO and eventually issued a public apology expressing regret for the dismissal.
Some people vowed to remain loyal, and employees rose up in resistance. At the same time, another undercurrent surged, which seemed to indicate that Ultraman might return to OpenAI. He's actively building support from employees and Microsoft, giving the impression that he might take the helm again. Just five days after being fired, Altman miraculously returned as CEO. This dramatic reversal was jaw-dropping. However, to those who know Ultraman, this may not seem like a surprise.
Altman’s mentor and famous investor Paul. Paul Graham once revealed to reporters that Ultraman is extremely good at using power, which has almost become his unique label. In Silicon Valley, we often talk about those technical experts who are either programming geniuses or have an almost paranoid pursuit of product details and design. But Ultraman is different from them. His most powerful and eye-catching ability is his ability to control power. This ability may have a profound impact on each of us.
In the summer of 2023, about five months before he was fired, a technology reporter asked Altman: "You hold immeasurable power at this moment, why should we trust you?" He calmly replied: "You don't You should believe me. If artificial intelligence technology is as powerful as expected, it will change everything. You should not trust a company, let alone any one person." If he really believes this, then why bother to do it again? Returning to OpenAI, why should we regain control, as if we firmly believe that we are the only choice to lead this company forward, because they are committed to rapidly advancing the development of artificial intelligence.
An outstanding student in the eyes of the teacher, a domineering brother in the eyes of the sister
Ultraman's desire for power has been very obvious since he was a child. He spent a carefree childhood in St. Louis, the eldest of four siblings. His mother was a dermatologist and his father was a real estate developer.
He studied at a well-known private high school. One anecdote about him is particularly striking. When some students tried to boycott an assembly about sexual orientation, the young Altman stood up in front of the entire school and bravely announced that he was gay. Among teenagers in the early 21st century, this is undoubtedly an extremely brave and avant-garde move. As we know, Ultraman is smart, unique, and he's always different. He was an excellent student, a talented writer, and a remarkable human being.
Andy. Andy Abbott was one of Altman's English teachers and is now the principal of his high school. In this school that values performance and achievement, Ultraman remains unique despite fierce competition. Abbott recalled that he was a natural leader, charismatic and curious. He was by no means a student in the traditional sense. He not only served as the editor of the yearbook, represented the school in Model United Nations activities, but also designed the school's website himself, which was particularly rare in an era when outsourcing website design was not yet common. Even more surprisingly, he even participated in water polo competitions and performed well.
Abbott said: "I clearly remember that Altman's confidence came from his talent. He seemed to be the brightest star in the room, not only intelligent but also charismatic. I once hoped that he would not get involved in the technology industry , because he is so creative and writes well, I dreamed that he would become a writer or an artist like that. After all, no one expected that OpenAI would become such a huge success, but everyone knew that this guy was in the majority. The fields are beyond those of us ordinary people.”
This exemplifies a key trait in Ultraman's career: his knack for making lasting impressions, especially on those who can have a positive influence on him—the elderly, the powerful, and those who might The person who helped him. People familiar with him revealed that he has an extraordinary ability to discern the distribution of power and use his charm to conquer those who hold power. Therefore, even though he is still a teenager, he behaves like a mature, confident person with more agency. Adults admired this quality in him, and he displayed it in his dealings with his three younger siblings.
According to Ultraman's younger brother, they used to play a board game called "Samurai" when they were children, and Ultraman always won. He sees himself as a leader and confidently declares, "I have to win, I'm in charge." The younger brother tells this story with a hint of humor, but their sister Anne, the only girl in the family, sees it differently. . She was estranged from Ultraman and other relatives, but her childhood memories left a deep impression on her of Ultraman's controlling nature. To her, this was not a joke, but a sign of dominance.
Anne said: "From my personal perspective, because of the nine-year age difference, he often tries to play the role of a third parent, like an older brother who controls everything in the family. For example, even though our family is Jewish, but we used to buy Christmas trees to celebrate until Altman strongly objected. My memory of Christmas trees was almost erased because when he was 13, he decided that we, as a Jewish family, should stop celebrating Christmas. When their father died in 2018, Anne remembers Altman setting a time for each of the younger siblings to speak at the funeral. However, an OpenAI spokeswoman revealed that Altman recalled the events slightly differently, but she declined to provide further details.
Dropped out of school to start a business and established a network of contacts
When Altman graduated from high school, he began a path very typical for the technology industry. He studied computer science at Stanford University, founded a startup company, and dropped out to focus on entrepreneurship. But he made a very An important decision, he applied to join Y Combinator. It's a startup accelerator, which is basically a boot camp for new startups, where entrepreneurs submit applications and learn how to work toward building a company over a three-month period. During this time, entrepreneurs need to demonstrate to investors and try to raise venture capital. Altman was actually one of the first founders of Y Combinator. This was still 2005, so YC was completely unknown at the time, it was just a bunch of young people meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, writing code, but YC would eventually become an extremely powerful network, and now it is basically the leading startup The company's top elite program, it's hard to get into.
Altman joined YC when he was 19 and immediately fell in love with YC founder Paul. Graham was impressed. Graham later wrote: "For about three minutes, I remember thinking: This must be what Bill Gates was like when he was 19." The startup Altman was building at the time was called Loopt. . When people first got really excited about having GPS on their phones, it used location data to connect people with their friends and local businesses, kind of like a cross between Yelp and Foursquare. Ultraman made an introduction at the developer conference: "Loopt's goal is to connect people on the move. After all, this is the main reason why you own a mobile phone." We show you where people are, what they're doing, and what cool places are around. "
Altman started building the company in 2005, before the iPhone existed, so Loopt's attempt to do this for a flip phone was a bit difficult. Early on, Ultraman's company was in a desperate situation where they really needed to make a deal with the mobile carriers. They learned that Boost Mobile, owned by Sprint, was looking to add location capabilities and needed a partner, but they were about to sign up with another company. So Ultraman flew to Boost's headquarters in Southern California. He just showed up outside Boost executive Will's office and asked for 10 minutes. "I remember getting a call from Ultraman and he explained who he was and what Loopt was. Someone from Sprint told him to contact us," Will recalled.
He added: “At the time, we were due to sign up with another startup bigger than Loopt in a day or two. Ultraman asked to come on the same day, which was very unusual, but considering the time, we were at the end of the line. At the critical moment, we were about to sign this contract, and he was already here. Our parent company Sprint recommended him. This was at least worth a meeting to discuss. Ultraman and two other Loopt members came to the office, and we sat in the conference room. , we shared what we wanted to do, and Ultraman started introducing Loopt, who I remember was 19 years old at the time, probably wearing casual shorts, sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, and started to take control of the situation. "Ultraman finally convinced Wei. Therefore, Boost Mobile changed its original cooperation plan at the last moment and chose Loopt, which was originally not optimistic.
Will is still impressed by Ultraman. He said: "Visually, he looks very young, but if you close your eyes and just listen to his words, his in-depth understanding of the project, excellent communication skills and confidence in controlling the overall situation are all things I have learned from many years in the technology industry. It's really amazing not only his appearance, but also his extraordinary calmness and control." Ultraman's persistence paid off, and he knew the deal. importance and take action. Later, Altman said of the incident that he learned a valuable lesson: to pursue your goals relentlessly. It was this persistence that allowed him to successfully sign the cooperation agreement with Loopt.
Fellow Y Combinators were surprised that Ultraman could achieve such an achievement because Loopt's business model was not stable and the product was not impressive. However, Ultraman's unique advantage began to emerge. He was an incredible negotiator. Y Combinator’s founders were impressed by Altman’s talent: “He was so impressive that he somehow convinced the phone company to offer services to his startup, even though it wasn’t even a thing yet. product. I don't know how he did it, but Ultraman's most striking trait at the time was his ambition, and while most of us had that ambition, he was better at closing deals. ." Over the next few years, Loopt grew and grew, and Ultraman performed a product demonstration at the 2008 Apple Developer Conference.
I've heard and read a lot of interviews about Ultraman, and he always uses words like "super" and "excited," sometimes "super excited," and his enthusiasm and optimism are impressive. He describes things as always so easy, important and exciting. However, he wasn't "super excited" about Loopt's subsequent development. After a few years, Loopt faded into obscurity, and Altman sold the company for a modest sum. He reportedly walked away with $5 million. For most people, this may be a satisfactory result, but from a Silicon Valley perspective, Loopt is viewed as somewhat of a failure.
But it didn't matter, because Ultraman had already won the favor of the bosses at that time. One of them is billionaire investor and PayPal co-founder Peter. Thiel. Thiel was one of the most influential gay men in Silicon Valley, which created a special bond between him and Altman. When Ultraman left Loopt, Teal gave him a considerable sum of money to invest. Their relationship was very close, something that was noticed by Ultraman's peers, as Till was known for being pessimistic and nihilistic, while Ultraman projected a public image of sincerity and optimism.
At the same time, Ultraman and YC's Paul. Graham's relationship also deepened, and this closeness provided Altman with tangible benefits. When Graham had the opportunity to invest in the payments startup Stripe, he invited Altman to join him. Altman later said that from a certain perspective, this was his most successful angel investment so far, and that he was able to obtain this opportunity entirely due to the personal network he had established.
With money, connections and influence, you can become a "band conductor"
Graham is widely praised for writing a series of intelligent entrepreneurial articles that encapsulate his unique perspective on entrepreneurship. He has expressed appreciation for Ultraman many times and suggested that young entrepreneurs learn from Ultraman. Graham's comment about Ultraman is particularly eye-catching: "Even if he were to be airdropped to an isolated island full of cannibals and come back five years later, he would already be the king of the island." When I first heard this, I thought It was regarded as a high praise for Ultraman, but now that I taste it carefully, this sentence may contain a deeper meaning.
By 2012, YC had become a highly influential investment institution, and its headquarters moved from Cambridge to Silicon Valley, becoming the cradle of many successful Internet companies, including industry leaders such as Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe. During this period, Altman seemed to begin to imitate Graham's style and gradually transformed into an entrepreneurial mentor. He mentored young founders at Y Combinator, like Graham, and began writing arcane and often convoluted entrepreneurial advice, such as “The most successful founders don’t just focus on building companies; Creating an almost religious belief" and "a little known secret is that you can shape the world to your will, but surprisingly many people have never even tried".
In a blog post titled "How to Succeed," Altman shared with the founders: "You should have almost overconfidence. The most successful people I know almost reach the point of delusion." For those who are familiar with Ultraman, this is not unfamiliar. One of my friends told me that Ultraman always exuded absolute confidence and that he gave the impression of believing in himself one hundred percent, without the fear or uncertainty that most of us would have. At the same time, former Boost Mobile senior director Will also had a similar view, believing that Ultraman is very confident, but not arrogant. This confidence stems from his calmness and ease in intelligence and interpersonal relationships.
Graham helped craft Altman's image over the years, turning him into a demigod in the entrepreneurial world, and in 2014 decided to promote him across the board. Graham resigned as Y Combinator president and appointed Altman as his successor. This decision attracted widespread attention in Silicon Valley. Altman, who was only 28 years old, became the helmsman of YC with the support of Thiel and Graham. Their close working relationship with Ultraman gave him money, connections, influence and other resources. In essence, they put some power directly into Ultraman's hands, which allowed him to have greater aspirations and ambitions, and he was able to maintain extremely high standards even when faced with seemingly unwise projects like Loopt. expectations and pursuits.
Graham explained that he chose Altman as YC's successor because "YC has grown into a huge organization, and I am not good at managing such a large organization. Altman has performed well in this regard." At that time, there was no solid evidence that Altman was capable of running a large organization, but since he took over YC, he has not only made the company much larger than before, but also provided funding for more startups and successfully expanded them. overseas business. Altman's leadership at YC was undoubtedly an era of expansion.
Entrepreneur John. John Coogan observed that Ultraman had an excellent ability to change his mind and listen very attentively, which he considered to be almost supernatural. Some even described him as "the Michael Jordan who listens." Many people described how attentive he was when listening, looking you straight in the eyes with an intensity that was almost unsettling. Later, as the helmsman of YC, Altman may have been more like a behind-the-scenes pusher. With the rich trading skills he accumulated during the Loopt period, coupled with his larger network and influence, once he encountered a problem, he would only It can be resolved quickly with just one phone call.
Coogan recalled: "Early in my entrepreneurial career, I experienced an extremely difficult negotiation. I sent Altman an email with the mentality of giving it a try. Unexpectedly, he called back immediately. Within just five minutes, , he completely solved my dilemma. It became one of the best transactions in my career and I was deeply impressed by the fact that I witnessed Altman solve a problem in just 15 minutes. The $100 million question, it's really breathtaking. I think Altman just thinks in a human way and he understands what everybody wants - this person wants X, that person wants Y, and then he wants it. I’ll think about how to connect the two cleverly.”
YC continues to grow under Altman's leadership, but his ambitions go far beyond that. After becoming president, he undertook a series of special projects, one of which was nuclear fusion research, aiming to encourage more people to start businesses in this field. He expanded the scope of Y Combinator to include startups with technical uncertainties. Prior to this, YC mainly focused on the field of network software. In addition, he established a research department within YC and assigned researchers to explore cutting-edge projects such as universal basic income, which provides a fixed income regardless of whether an individual works or not.
Driven by Altman, YC conducted a study that provided unconditional financial aid to families in Oakland. This kind of action is what Ultraman is good at. He often has an idea flashing in his mind that something should exist, and then he will gather manpower and funds to encourage others to practice it. As he said in his blog, he is like a conductor of a symphony orchestra. He does not play an instrument himself, but he can lead the entire orchestra to play harmonious movements.
Does Musk have ulterior motives for paying attention to AI? Is he jealous of his super-rich friends?
By 2015, Ultraman once again had the opportunity to display his talents. He found a crucial topic - artificial intelligence, and planned to gather relevant talents and resources through a dinner party to jointly promote the development of this field. This dinner is destined to change everything. There is a legend circulating in Silicon Valley. In 2015, Elon. Elon Musk is deeply concerned about the current state of artificial intelligence, and he has frequently expressed his concerns.
At the time, Google dominated the field of artificial intelligence, with deep funding and many top researchers. Google Brain and its acquired DeepMind laboratory are conducting exciting artificial intelligence research and are committed to creating a more fluid and self-learning artificial intelligence system. Google's early lead has unsettled Musk, who worries that artificial intelligence could become too powerful, especially as its agents begin to improve themselves. This concern makes Musk suspicious of those responsible for this area.
Musk once said frankly that he and Larry. Larry Page once had a deep friendship. The two often had long conversations late at night at the latter's home. He constantly emphasized the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, but Page seemed nonchalant about it. Musk's tone seemed lighthearted when he mentioned the end of the friendship, but the anecdote highlights his intelligence and forward-thinking. At that time, Google, especially after the acquisition of DeepMind, gathered two-thirds of the world's artificial intelligence talents and had huge computing resources and funds. However, the people in charge of all this seemed indifferent to the safety issues of artificial intelligence, which undoubtedly constituted A serious hidden danger.
Musk further elaborated: “The final crack came when Page called me a racist, simply because I lean more toward human consciousness than machine consciousness. I guess, to some extent, I do. At the time, many experts scoffed at the idea that artificial intelligence threatened human existence, saying it was a fantasy. After all, artificial intelligence couldn't even distinguish between pictures of Chihuahuas and blueberry muffins. For Musk, however, it's an imminent threat.
At a meeting, Musk and biographer Walter. In Walter Isaacson's dialogue, his tone is serious and even panicked. He emphasized: "I think most people don't realize that machine intelligence is developing so fast. It is far beyond people's imagination. Even in Silicon Valley, few people can really understand this. If there is a kind of super intelligence, especially But when it has the ability to recursively improve itself, and its utility function is harmful to humans, the consequences will be disastrous. Imagine that it may just want to delete spam, but it concludes that eradicating humans is the best solution. Why do we keep the source of these spam messages?"
However, the audience at the time scoffed at Musk's words and thought his concerns were ridiculous. Musk feels he must take action to undermine Google's advantage in artificial intelligence, but there may be deeper motivations behind this. Technology reporter Ashley. Ashley Vance mentioned in Musk’s biography: “The Musk of 2013 was different from the one we see today. At that time, although he was doing well, both Tesla and SpaceX were getting better. , but his net worth may only be a few billion dollars, and he is far from the richest person in the world.”
Musk’s circle of friends at the time included many of the world’s richest people, including Google co-founders Page and Sergey. Sergey Brin. Technology reporter Ashley. When writing Musk's biography, Vance revealed: "I have interviewed Musk many times. When I deeply understand his inner world, I strongly feel that he is watching the friends around him. They live a privileged life and have A huge software empire and a growing artificial intelligence empire. I firmly believe that Musk’s deep concern for artificial intelligence is partly due to envy and even jealousy of the success of his friends. He has witnessed the brilliant achievements of Google and his friends. He doesn't seem to have reached that level yet, but he's never admitted it publicly."
The ideal is full, but the reality is a power war
Therefore, artificial intelligence has always been Musk's focus. In 2015, he attended a dinner at the Rosewood Hotel, a luxurious venue on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, the heart of Silicon Valley, adjacent to the Valley's largest venture capital firm. About ten outstanding figures gathered at the dinner, four of which were particularly important - Musk, Ultraman, Ilya. Ilya Sutskever and Greg. Greg Brockman. Sutschifer was Google's top artificial intelligence researcher at the time, while Brockman was a key player at Stripe, having grown a team of five into a multibillion-dollar company.
During a lively discussion at the dinner, they delved into the threats posed by the possible misuse of artificial intelligence, and the potentially catastrophic consequences. They also carefully analyzed what it would take to build a project that could compete with Google. They thought they had all the ingredients for success: Sützkefer's artificial intelligence expertise, Brockman's operational experience, Musk's financial backing, and Altman's coordination skills. At that dinner, Musk solemnly promised to invest $1 billion in the project and proposed to name it OpenAI.
Their original vision was that OpenAI would serve as a research lab dedicated to sharing its findings openly, rather than keeping them secret for private gain. It will operate on a non-profit basis, not pursuing corporate profits, but focusing on developing safe artificial intelligence that benefits humanity. While the idea sounded great in theory, these non-profit and open source principles quickly became complicated in practice, and a power struggle broke out among OpenAI's co-founders.
After the founding of OpenAI, Ultraman's interpersonal relationships began to become tense. A group of early employees had disagreements with him and other management over the safety development of artificial intelligence, and eventually left and founded a competitor, Anthropic. Musk also resigned himself after falling out with Ultraman, suing OpenAI and Ultraman, accusing them of deviating from the company's founding principles and accusing Ultraman of enriching himself, but later withdrew the lawsuit. At the same time, Musk also founded his own artificial intelligence company xAI.
Even Graham, who had always praised Ultraman and had been optimistic about him since he was a teenager, had a rift with him. After the founding of OpenAI, Altman continued to serve as YC president, but his attention was divided, which caused dissatisfaction among YC leadership. In 2019, Graham flew all the way from the UK to California, USA, to confront Altman face to face. Graham later recalled that YC needed a leader who could commit himself wholeheartedly. As a result, Altman eventually resigned as YC president.
From OpenAI's founding mission, it is not difficult to see Altman's lofty ambitions: he is committed to ensuring that the artificial intelligence developed by the company can benefit all mankind. However, for a brief moment last November, his drive seemed beyond his control. OpenAI board members made a difficult decision: In order to protect humanity, Ultraman must temporarily leave. But surprisingly, he returned to the company five days later and helped replace some of its board members.
Clearly, Ultraman once again stands out in a way that consolidates his power. Now, Ultraman is working hard towards his next grand goal: to make artificial intelligence surpass human performance on a variety of tasks. He firmly believes that this vision will become a reality "in the fairly near future."
This article is reproduced in cooperation with: Shenchao
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