# HIBT Lab! OpenAI: Sam Altman

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2022-09-29
- Length: 57m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman

## Summary

Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, discusses his journey from a teenage entrepreneur with Looped to president of Y Combinator and finally to leading the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI). He explains the strategic pivot of OpenAI from a nonprofit to a hybrid nonprofit/for-profit structure to secure the massive capital required for compute and talent, while maintaining safety incentives like profit caps. Altman details the technical challenges of training models like GPT-3 and DALL-E, the risks of disinformation, and his vision for AI becoming an ubiquitous, helpful layer in daily life rather than just a job-replacing tool.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=0) Introduction: Sam Altman and the Rise of AI
- [2:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=142) Early Life, Looped, and Y Combinator
- [15:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=935) Founding OpenAI and the Quest for AGI
- [25:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=1511) Technical Challenges: Dota, Robotics, and DALL-E
- [32:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=1932) The Pivot to For-Profit and Safety Structures
- [37:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=2230) GPT-3, Misinformation, and AI Safety
- [48:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-09-29-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=2939) The Future of Work and Human Evolution

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- OpenAI (company)
- Y Combinator (company)
- Looped (product)
- GPT-3 (product)
- DALL-E (product)
- Helion (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- Dota (product)
- Dactyl (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [The Open Weight Revolution with Simon Willison](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-07-31-the-open-weight-revolution-with-simon-willison) (Oxide and Friends)
- [OpenAI's Boardroom Brawl](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-11-28-openais-boardroom-brawl) (Oxide and Friends)
- [The Elon vs Sam FEUD Explodes + GPT-5 First Look & Remote Construction Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-08-14-the-elon-vs-sam-feud-explodes-gpt-5-first-look-remote-construction-robots) (Built 2 Scale)
- [Open Source LLMs with Simon Willison](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-01-17-open-source-llms-with-simon-willison) (Oxide and Friends)
- [AI Detection with Max Spero](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2026-09-03-ai-detection-with-max-spero) (Oxide and Friends)

## Citing this page

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