OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he's in it for the love of the game.
Following the Tuesday restructuring of OpenAI, some observers were perplexed by the announcement that Altman maintained no equity in the company. With a potential IPO looming, what drove Altman other than a cash-out?
In a lengthy reply on X, Altman addressed the issue.
"If I were like, a sports star or an artist or something, and just really cared about doing a great job at my thing, and was up at 5 am practicing free throws or whatever, that would seem pretty normal right?" he wrote.
Altman wrote that he wishes he'd taken equity "a long time ago."
People seem to understand being motivated by money but not by influence over new technology, he said.
"I think it would have led to far fewer conspiracy theories," Altman wrote. "It was a crazy tone-deaf thing to try to make the point 'I already have enough money.'"
Altman's lack of equity in OpenAI has long been a point of confusion. In the company's early days, reports indicated that Altman didn't take equity because OpenAI was not intended to make money. Last year, Bloomberg reported that the OpenAI board was considering giving Altman a 7% stake, though that has yet to happen.
In the X reply, Altman said that the first part of working at OpenAI was "unbelievably fun." The company worked on what Altman believed was the "most important scientific work of this generation."
"This current part is less fun but still rewarding," Altman wrote. "It is extremely painful as you say and often tempting to nope out on any given day, but the chance to really 'make a dent in the universe' is more than worth it."
Altman also wrote that his work ethic was an "extremely easy trade" until he had a kid. Altman welcomed a baby in February with a birth announcement on X. He later said that his kids "will never be smarter than AI."
Now, Altman wrote, working as much is an "extremely hard trade."
"I believe that AGI will be the most important technology humanity has yet built," Altman wrote. "I am very grateful to get to play an important role in that and work with such great colleagues."
"I like having an interesting life," he concluded.
