Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has experienced a whirlwind of events in recent years, marked by the release of ChatGPT and a prominent role in the AI industry. He has engaged with world leaders, clashed with Elon Musk, and joined the ranks of billionaires. He was briefly ousted from the company he co-founded before quickly returning to his position.
In a recent appearance on the tech podcast "The Logan Bartlett Show," Altman reflected on these extraordinary experiences. He highlighted a particularly surreal moment: the four-day period surrounding his ousting from OpenAI. It wasn't just the ousting itself but the unusual series of events that followed.
Altman described this period as an "insane, superjammed" 4 and a half days, during which he was in an "adrenaline-charged state." Within a day of his departure, he received 10 to 20 messages from presidents and prime ministers around the world. At the time, this felt "very normal," and he responded to the messages without much thought.
"It was just, like, weird," Altman told the podcast host, Logan Bartlett. He recounted not sleeping much, barely eating, and maintaining high energy levels throughout the ordeal.
After being reinstated as CEO, Altman recalled a moment of realisation when he stopped at a diner on the way to Napa the day before Thanksgiving. He ordered four substantial entrées and two milkshakes, realising he hadn't eaten in days. This celebratory meal was "very satisfying."
The gravity of the situation only struck him later, when he received a text from a president expressing relief that everything had been resolved. It was then that Altman realised how unusual it was to have multiple world leaders reaching out to him during this period.
"The odd part was realising that it should've been weird to have multiple world leaders texting me during this situation — but it wasn't," Altman said.
He reflected on humans' remarkable ability to adapt to any circumstance. "My takeaway is human adaptability to almost anything is just, like, much more remarkably strong than we realise," he said on the podcast. "And you can get used to anything as the new normal, good or bad, pretty fast."
Altman noted that this was not the first time he had learned this lesson. He has faced numerous extraordinary situations over the past couple of years, reinforcing his belief in humanity's resilience. "I think it says something remarkable about humanity and good for us as we stare down at this, like, big transition," he added.