A fireside chat with Sam Altman OpenAI CEO at Harvard University

Patrick Chung, Harvard JD/MBA and Managing General Partner of Xfund, interviews Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, on May 1, 2024 at Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus. They discuss Altman's formative years, common misconceptions, the future of AI, and OpenAI. This event was organized by the Harvard Business School Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS), the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Xfund.

Highlights from this insightful conversation:

– 14:44: Why when you started OpenAI did you decide on a not-for-profit company?
– 22:31: Can you tell us about a difficult product decision you had to make?
– 25:00: When you make decisions, do you have a dichotomy in your mind? Ex: safety vs. progress, efficiency vs profit.
– 27:29: What question would you most like to be asked about artificial general intelligence? Answer it.
_ 31:07: What do you think people are getting wrong about OpenAI right now?
– 32:23: How do you regain momentum after pivoting in terms of your values?
– 34:10: How do you think AI’s role and impact will be in inequality in healthcare and education?
– 37:10: Do you envision OpenAI trying out other monetization strategies besides the subscription model?
– 40:14: Did competition change innovation?
– 41:37: What do you think public education curriculum on artificial intelligence should look like?
– 43:43: What do you think most entrepreneurs and VCs are getting wrong about the future of AI?
– 45:52: How much exposure does OpenAI have to energy constraints?
– 47:54: What do you and other leaders at OpenAI disagree on the most?
– 48:55: Does our passion for scientific progress lead us down a dangerous path?
– 51:21: What do you think industry should address to increase public trust of AI?