Openai boss Sam Altman has a new obsession, but it's more than just artificial intelligence. The CEO, who became a father earlier this year, says he insists that parent-child relationships are “surprising” and that more people should give it a try. Speaking about the people on the WTF podcast with Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamas, Altman called the decline in fertility rates a “real problem” and argued that building families and communities should be a greater priority in the coming years.
“I think it's clear that families and community are two of the things that make us the happiest, and I hope we get back to that,” he said.
Naturally, Altman sees artificial intelligence as part of the solution. More specifically, he believes that artificial general information (AGI), a historical form of human-like human-like, is still a historical form of AI that can reason like human-like, and that society can be reconstructed in ways that allow children to be more attainable.
He said, “AGI will enable a world where people have more abundance, more time, more resources, potential and capabilities.” In that imaginary future, society will become more enriched, daily life will no longer be able to contain pressure, and families will have more support to thrive.
Altman added that he hopes families and communities will become “more important in the post-AGI world.”
Baby step into fatherhood
When asked about his own first few months as a father, Altman did not refrain. “It felt like the most important, meaningful and fulfilling thing I could imagine,” he told Camas. The CEO also admitted that it is “very child stuffed” and technology, for those who buy completely for the joy of having children.
He confesses on the newborn stage that he is “constantly” plaguing the company chatbot. “In my first few weeks as Dad, I was asking ChatGpt questions 'constantly',” he said.
Give me the skills
On a June episode of the Openai podcast, Altman went further, joking that his kids would never cover the machines their dad helped make. “My kids never get smarter than AI,” he said. “They are much more capable than we grew up, they can do things they can't imagine and are good at using AI.”
For Altman, learning how to operate an intelligent system is just as basic as learning to read and write. And he intends to make sure his kids pick up skills early.
The Silicon Valley figure is not the only Silicon Valley figure waving the flag of a pro family. Elon Musk, the founder of Xai and father of at least 10 children, has revealed his views over the years. In 2022, he warned in a viral post on X that “crashing birth rates is the biggest danger civilization faces far.” Musk also joked that he “doesn't do his best to help the shortage crisis.”
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