Sam Altman: OpenAI, GPT-5, Sora, Board Saga, Elon Musk, Ilya, Power & AGI | Lex Fridman Podcast #419

🔖 Titles

  1. Navigating Power Struggles in Tech
  2. The Future of AI: Lessons and Challenges
  3. Building Resilience in Leadership
  4. Integrating Experience into AI Development
  5. The Evolution of AI Models: What's Next?
  6. Collaboration and Innovation in Technology
  7. Balancing Power Dynamics in Startups
  8. The Role of Track Record in Leadership Decisions


➡️ Topics

00:00 - 05:00

  • Introduction to the conversation
  • Overview of challenges faced

05:00 - 10:00

  • Importance of technical expertise
  • Broader societal impact considerations

10:00 - 15:00

  • Psychological low points
  • Discussion on personal recovery methods

15:00 - 20:00

  • Admiration for Mira Moradi
  • Daily decision-making processes

20:00 - 25:00

  • Emotional responses to past events
  • Characterization of historical events

25:00 - 30:00

  • Modeling physics in AI
  • Challenges with training data

30:00 - 35:00

  • Self-supervised learning in AI
  • Potential of internet-scale data

35:00 - 40:00

  • Future of AI-generated content
  • Job market implications

40:00 - 45:00

  • Context length in AI models
  • Future aspirations for AI memory

45:00 - 50:00

  • Integration of AI lessons
  • Vision for future AI capabilities

50:00 - 55:00

  • Continuous development in AI
  • Strategies for releasing new models

55:00 - 60:00

  • Collaboration among teams
  • Financial considerations in AI development

60:00 - 65:00

  • Energy solutions for AI
  • Historical leadership insights

65:00 - 70:00

  • Monetization strategies
  • Addressing potential harms

70:00 - 75:00

  • State actors and cybersecurity
  • Natural language processing challenges

75:00 - 80:00

  • Major transitions in the world
  • Assigning probabilities to future events

80:00 - 85:00

  • Unique tweeting style
  • Personal reflections on daily thoughts

85:00 - 90:00

  • Conclusion of the conversation
  • Inspirational quote from Arthur C. Clarke


SA

Sam Altman

Guest

I think compute is going to be the currency of the future. I think it will be maybe the most precious commodity in the world. I expect that by the end of this decade and possibly somewhat sooner than that, we will have quite capable systems that we look at and say, wow, that's really remarkable. The road to AGI should be a giant power struggle.

I expect that to be the case.

LF

Lex Fridman

Host

Whoever builds AGI first gets a lot of power. Do you trust yourself with that much power? The following is a conversation with Sam Altman, his second time in the podcast. He is the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind GPT-4, ChadGPT, Sora, and perhaps 1 day, the very company that will build AGI.

This is Alex Friedman podcast. To support it, please check out our sponsors in the description. And now, dear friends, here's Sam Altman. Take me through the OpenAI board saga that started on Thursday, November 16th, maybe Friday, November 17th for you.

SA

Sam Altman

Guest

That was definitely the most painful professional experience of my life. And chaotic and shameful and upsetting and a bunch of other negative things. There were great things about it too, and I wish it had not been in such an adrenaline rush that I wasn't able to stop and appreciate them at the time. I came across this old tweet of mine, or this tweet of mine from that time period, which was like, it was like, you know, kind of going to your own eulogy, watching people say all these great things about you, and just like, unbelievable support from people I love

and care about. That was really nice. That whole weekend, I kind of like felt, with 1 big exception, I felt like a great deal of love and very little hate. Even though it felt like I just, I have no idea what's happening and what's going to happen here, and this feels really bad, and there were definitely times I thought it was going to be like 1 of the worst things to ever happen for AI safety.

Loading video...

00:00

00:00