The release of ChatGPT in November last year brought OpenAI and its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman into the global spotlight. According to The Atlantic, this generative AI tool captured the world's attention like no other recent tech innovation. Altman, despite acknowledging the potential dangers of the technology, saw it as a moment of triumph. OpenAI was established as a non-profit organization with the goal of developing AI while ensuring it doesn't pose a threat to humanity, as reported by Sky News. Altman, a prodigy in the tech world since primary school, co-founded the startup with Elon Musk in 2015. Although Altman claimed to have no regrets about the release of ChatGPT, The Atlantic revealed that his worst fears revolve around tech companies causing significant harm. Consequently, he advocates for government regulation as a critical measure to mitigate risks. Altman, who grew up in St Louis, Missouri, discovered his passion for programming when he dismantled a Macintosh at the age of eight. Tad Friend's account in The New Yorker portrays the Mac as his lifeline to the world. Altman's journey as a tech entrepreneur was also marked by his open announcement of being gay during his time at John Burroughs School, challenging the community to be more accepting of diverse ideas. After two years at Stanford studying computer science, Altman dropped out, a move Sky News highlighted as a rite of passage for tech entrepreneurs. In 2005, he founded his first venture, a smartphone app called Loopt, which allowed users to share their real-time location. Altman raised £30 million for Loopt with the support of start-up accelerator Y Combinator. Described as an aggressively geeky boot camp in The New Yorker, Y Combinator served as a training ground for aspiring "unicorns" (billion-dollar companies).

Altman became a partner in 2011 and later the president in 2014. In 2019, he turned his attention to his next venture, OpenAI, gradually withdrawing from Y Combinator. OpenAI, originally conceived by Musk, was created in 2015 as a hedge against the potential dominance of AI over humans. The New Yorker described Altman's decision to launch a start-up at that time as a conformist act of youthful rebellion, akin to assembling an alt-rock band in 1996 or protesting the Vietnam War in 1971. Altman, unlike many in Silicon Valley, claims to have a plan to save the world, according to friend in The New Yorker. Under Altman's leadership, OpenAI transformed from a non-profit organization to an estimated $29 billion enterprise, thanks to the remarkable success of its generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E. While generative AI brings wonders, concerns regarding disinformation and job displacement are valid. Governments are eager to regulate this technology that seems destined to revolutionize the world. Altman shares these concerns and wishes to be an active participant in shaping responsible AI use and regulation. As reported by The Atlantic, Altman considers releasing the technology as a great public service, even though it will inevitably lead to job losses. Altman's view of an AI-driven world is optimistic, although he acknowledges uncertainty about its exact appearance, as noted by The Byte. Altman is actively preparing for the future through ventures like Tools for Humanity, which recently introduced the cryptocurrency project Worldcoin. Wired reports that the aim of Worldcoin is to create a global ID system that can differentiate reliably between humans and AI, in anticipation of a time when intelligence alone is no longer an indicator of personhood. Lastly, the article brings up the topic of "phubbing" and its potential impact on marriages.