ClaimsPeople

Sam Altman

Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI and serves as its chief executive officer, according to OpenAI's own announcement and Crunchbase.

930 claims collected, 238 researched, 87 resolved. Report of 4 November 2026, method 0.1.0+c876030c.

Scores by kind of claim

Each kind of claim is scored on its own, out of 100: the share that held up, with the range it likely falls in. Fewer resolved claims give a wider range.

  • Factual claims

    Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

    83 77 88

    High confidence, 77 factual claims resolved. From 18 documents, 2014 to 2026; 19 documents sampled from 35 candidates found.

    Not scored: 28 unresolvable, 18 checkable only against their own records.

  • Predictions

    Statements about events outside the person's control, checked once they fell due: did they come true?

    69 49 87

    Low confidence, 5 predictions resolved. From 4 documents, 2017 to 2025; 19 documents sampled from 35 candidates found.

    Not scored: 94 unresolvable. 9 more fall due later.

    Does not yet allow for how likely each prediction was when made.

  • Promises

    Commitments to the person's or organisation's own future action, with something to deliver: was it delivered?

    69 49 87

    Low confidence, 5 promises resolved. From 4 documents, 2017 to 2024; 19 documents sampled from 35 candidates found.

    Not scored: 1 unresolvable, 1 checkable only against their own records.

All types combined: 81 (likely 76 to 86, high confidence), from 87 claims: 77 factual claims, 5 predictions, 5 promises. It mixes kinds of claim in different proportions for different people, so compare people kind by kind.

Sam Altman's claims

930 claims, sorted by newest said. Choose a claim to read it in full.
VerdictKindSaidClaimTopic
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 it would be nice to write out what the desired behavior of a model is, make that public, take input on it Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 people seem to really understand that GPT, any of these models hallucinate some of the time. And if it's mission-critical, you got to check… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 That whole weekend, with one big exception, I felt like a great deal of love and very little hate, even though it felt like I have no idea… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Own records only Factual 18 Mar 2024 Sam Altman has recently been using GPT-4 as a brainstorming partner. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Very different job now than what I used to have. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I used to have a good map of all or most of the frontiers in the tech industry. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I feel great about the new board. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I don’t know what the percent chance is that I eventually get shot, but it’s not zero. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 For a board member, I do care much more about the Y-intercept. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Compute will become maybe the most precious commodity in the world. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI compute, hardware and data
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 We multiply 200 medium-sized things together into one giant thing. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 The best practitioners of programming will use multiple tools, including natural language and writing C. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI capabilities
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I personally think it’s sort of a dumb construct that we capitalize the letter at the beginning of a sentence and of certain names and… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think that gives a glimpse of something I hope to see more of. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 what we’d really like is for the board of OpenAI to answer to the world as a whole, as much as that’s a practical thing. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I expect that to be the case. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I would heavily discourage any startup that was thinking about starting as a nonprofit and adding a for-profit arm later. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not researched Factual 18 Mar 2024 OpenAI's old board shrank over about a year, from nine members to six. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 And there were definitely times I thought it was going to be one of the worst things to ever happen for AI safety. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Actually, I think ChatGPT is that for some use cases, and hopefully we’ll make it be like that for a lot more use cases. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Mostly true Factual 18 Mar 2024 Altman said his memory was that Musk's proposal was for OpenAI to be acquired by Tesla, with Tesla having full control, adding that he was "pretty sure" of this. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I really hope we work together for certainly the rest of my career. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I have just enormous gratitude and trust and respect for the people that I work with every day Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I find the Fermi paradox very puzzling. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Altman said he expects the improvement from GPT-4 to GPT-5 to be the same as the improvement from GPT-3 to GPT-4. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI capabilities
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Maybe we need to go invent more technology and measure more things first. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think one of the best things that OpenAI has done is this strategy, and we get the world to pay attention to the progress, to take AGI… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think when a system can significantly increase the rate of scientific discovery in the world, that’s a huge deal. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I kind of hate ads just as an aesthetic choice. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 There's a few people who have to think about putting the whole thing together, but a lot of people try to keep most of the picture in their… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not researched Factual 18 Mar 2024 Sam Altman has never had or wanted super-voting control over OpenAI. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I love Ilya. I have tremendous respect for Ilya. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not researched Factual 18 Mar 2024 After initially not fighting the OpenAI board's decision to remove him, Sam Altman later did fight it. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 It maybe changed the world’s expectations for the future, and that’s actually really important. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 for me, the fact that Sora worked is not in the top five. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 It’s getting better across the board. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Compute will become the currency of the future. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI compute, hardware and data
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 one thing I generally believe is that it’s sometimes useful to zoom out and look at the entire map. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 it is important that I nor any other one person have total control over OpenAI or over AGI. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I deeply want to believe that the answer is yes. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Mostly true Factual 18 Mar 2024 Asked whether OpenAI's compute was in the same nuclear facility, Altman said there is no nuclear facility. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 But I don’t think any one person should, and I don’t think any one person will. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 The amazing stuff about Elon is amazing and I super respect him. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 And then when a model is not behaving in a way that you want, it’s at least clear about whether that’s a bug the company should fix or… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Great to talk to you. Thank you for having me. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Sam Altman does not expect the first AGI to be able to answer those questions, even as yes or no, though he said they would be very high on his list if it could. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI timelines and forecasting
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 We're very early in our explorations here Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Energy is the hardest part, building data centers is also hard, the supply chain is hard, and then of course, fabricating enough chips is… Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not researched Factual 18 Mar 2024 The OpenAI board had the legal ability to fire Sam Altman but in practice the firing did not work. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 And so in some sense, that we all created that, and that fills me with hope for the future. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 we want to hire board members in slates, not as individuals one at a time. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Resolved true Factual 18 Mar 2024 Elon Musk says he cares a great deal about AI safety and is really worried about it. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Maybe some people will program entirely in natural language. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI capabilities
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think short timeline, slow takeoff is the safest quadrant and the one I’d most like us to be in. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 The model changes but people have got to get paid. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think it kind of sucks. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Track record is a big deal. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Relatively soon, people will look back at GPT-4 as they now look back at GPT-3. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI capabilities
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 Intelligence will become more like energy, with world compute use best described as a function of price. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 Economics and markets
Unresolvable Prediction 18 Mar 2024 AI model hallucination will not be fully solved in 2024, though upcoming versions will be much better. Prediction · 18 Mar 2024 AI capabilities
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I don’t have anything I can say about his plans right now. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Mostly true Factual 18 Mar 2024 Elon Musk chose to part ways with OpenAI. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not researched Factual 18 Mar 2024 OpenAI uses lots of human data in its work. Factual · 18 Mar 2024 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 It still, I think, helped us build up some resilience and be ready for more challenges in the future. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 our goal is not to have shock updates to the world. The opposite. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Anything I want stricken from the record from my AI agent, I want to be able to take out. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I think it’s just a shame that industry kind of ground to a halt. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I find it surprisingly difficult to say what I would ask that I would expect that first AGI to be able to answer. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I find that boring. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 I suspect that's a reasonable intuition. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Nuclear fission, I think, is also quite amazing, and I hope as a world we can re-embrace that. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Somewhat. I don’t think that’s the strongest piece of evidence. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Not checkable Not checkable 18 Mar 2024 Look, I think this whole thing is unbecoming of a builder. Not checkable · 18 Mar 2024
Mostly true Factual 30 Nov 2023 OpenAI has said throughout 2023 that it expects AI progress to continue. Factual · 30 Nov 2023 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Nov 2023 "But that takes real time and consideration," Altman told Axios. "We're going to need some patience there." Not checkable · 30 Nov 2023
Mostly true Factual 30 Nov 2023 OpenAI consistently said it expects AI progress to continue, even when accused of fear-mongering, marketing or regulatory capture. Factual · 30 Nov 2023 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Nov 2023 "I imagine plenty of scenarios where I'm not [on the board], even though I think CEOs usually are." Not checkable · 30 Nov 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Nov 2023 "I have a mountain of very important and urgent work in front of me," he said. Not checkable · 30 Nov 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Nov 2023 "I'd like to understand it better," he said. Not checkable · 30 Nov 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 30 Nov 2023 "I have a bunch of half-formed thoughts but I don't think I'm ready to say… 'Here's my like nice little takeaway' and wrap it up with a… Not checkable · 30 Nov 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We expect powerful AI to make the rate of progress in the world much faster, and we think it’s better to adjust to this incrementally. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 It’s a false dichotomy to talk about them separately; they are correlated in many ways. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 Some people in the AI field think the risks of AGI (and successor systems) are fictitious; we would be delighted if they turn out to be… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We believe that future of humanity should be determined by humanity, and that it’s important to share information about progress with the… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 Our mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence—AI systems that are generally smarter than humans—benefits all of humanity. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Resolved true Factual 24 Feb 2023 OpenAI's Charter includes a clause about assisting other organizations to advance safety instead of racing with them in late-stage AGI development. Factual · 24 Feb 2023 Their own work or organisation
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We currently believe the best way to successfully navigate AI deployment challenges is with a tight feedback loop of rapid learning and… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We think a slower takeoff is easier to make safe, and coordination among AGI efforts to slow down at critical junctures will likely be… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 Because the upside of AGI is so great, we do not believe it is possible or desirable for society to stop its development forever; instead… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 If AGI is successfully created, this technology could help us elevate humanity by increasing abundance, turbocharging the global economy… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We will need to develop new alignment techniques as our models become more powerful (and tests to understand when our current techniques… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We think public standards about when an AGI effort should stop a training run, decide a model is safe to release, or pull a model from… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 On the other hand, AGI would also come with serious risk of misuse, drastic accidents, and societal disruption. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Mostly true Promise 24 Feb 2023 OpenAI will discuss in more detail, later in 2023, independent audits of AI systems before release. Promise · 24 Feb 2023 AI safety and alignment
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 Finally, we think it’s important that major world governments have insight about training runs above a certain scale. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We don’t expect the future to be an unqualified utopia, but we want to maximize the good and minimize the bad, and for AGI to be an… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 Importantly, we think we often have to make progress on AI safety and capabilities together. Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 A misaligned superintelligent AGI could cause grievous harm to the world; an autocratic regime with a decisive superintelligence lead could… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 We believe that democratized access will also lead to more and better research, decentralized power, more benefits, and a broader set of… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
Not checkable Not checkable 24 Feb 2023 At some point, the balance between the upsides and downsides of deployments (such as empowering malicious actors, creating social and… Not checkable · 24 Feb 2023
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Sam Altman

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“it would be nice to write out what the desired behavior of a model is, make that public, take input on it”

Sam Altman 18 March 2024 Transcript for Sam Altman: OpenAI, GPT-5, Sora, Board Saga, Elon Musk, Ilya, Power & AGI (Lex Fridman)

it would be nice to write out what the desired behavior of a model is, make that public, take input on it

Not checkable An opinion, value judgement or statement with nothing to check.

Cite this claim

Sam Altman, “it would be nice to write out what the desired behavior of a model is, make that public, take input on it” (said 18 March 2024). Verdict: not checkable. Reliability API, claim c_a13d5b33b564, method 0.1.0+c876030c. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_a13d5b33b564

Claims without a verdict

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