# ICYMI... HIBT Lab! OpenAI: Sam Altman

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2023-02-16
- Length: 58m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman

## Summary

Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI and former president of Y Combinator, discusses the evolution of artificial intelligence from narrow tasks to the pursuit of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). He details OpenAI's structural shift from a nonprofit to a hybrid model to secure necessary capital, the strategic decision to keep powerful models like GPT-3 behind an API for safety control, and his vision for AI as a ubiquitous, helpful companion rather than just a job-replacing tool.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=0) Introduction: Sam Altman and the Rise of Generative AI
- [3:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=213) Altman's Early Life, Looped, and Y Combinator
- [16:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=1006) Founding OpenAI and the Pursuit of AGI
- [26:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=1581) Research Strategies: Dota, Robotics, and Dactyl
- [33:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=2003) The Shift to a Hybrid Nonprofit/For-Profit Model
- [36:18](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=2178) Safety, GPT-3, and the Risks of Open Sourcing
- [48:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-02-16-icymi-hibt-lab-openai-sam-altman#t=2911) AI's Impact on Creativity, Labor, and the Future of Humanity

## 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)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

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

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- [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)
- [AI Discourse with Steve Klabnik](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2025-06-05-ai-discourse-with-steve-klabnik) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Inside the emerging frontier of models, machines and manufacturing hell.](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/built-2-scale/2025-12-11-inside-the-emerging-frontier-of-models-machines-and-manufacturing-hell) (Built 2 Scale)
- [535: The You in the Machine](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2026-10-01-535-the-you-in-the-machine) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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