Sam Altman

Loopt and Y Combinator

Altman left Stanford in 2005, partway through a computer science degree, to build Loopt, an app for sharing your location with friends. It was in the very first batch of start-ups Y Combinator funded. In 2012 the payments company Green Dot bought it, in a deal that paid Loopt's stockholders and some staff $40 million in cash.37812

In February 2014 Paul Graham announced that Altman would become president of Y Combinator. He ran it for five years and handed it to Geoff Ralston in 2019.89

Building OpenAI

OpenAI launched in December 2015 with Altman and Elon Musk as co-chairs and $1 billion pledged by its backers. Musk left its board in 2018. A year later the non-profit bolted on a capped-profit company, limiting what its first investors could make to 100 times their money, with Altman as chief executive.1314

Then came ChatGPT. OpenAI put it online on 30 November 2022 as a free research preview and followed it with GPT-4 in March 2023. Microsoft, which had invested in 2019 and 2021, announced a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment that January.26

In January 2025 OpenAI announced Stargate, a venture meant to spend $500 billion over four years on US AI infrastructure. That October it restructured. Its non-profit foundation kept 26% of the new OpenAI Group, a stake then worth about $130 billion.115

Four days in November

On Friday 17 November 2023 OpenAI's board said Altman would leave as chief executive and step off the board. Its statement accused him of not being "consistently candid in his communications with the board". By 21 November the decision had been reversed and he was rehired.1011

In March 2024 the board published a review of the episode by the law firm WilmerHale. It cut both ways. The old board had acted within its discretion in firing him, the lawyers found, but his conduct "did not mandate removal". Altman rejoined the board the same day.11

Musk's lawsuit

Musk, OpenAI's other co-chair at launch, later sued in federal court in Northern California and named Altman personally as a defendant. In May 2026 Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers adopted an advisory jury's finding that Musk's claims were barred because he had waited too long to bring them (case 4:24-cv-04722). Musk's lawyers said they would appeal, Bloomberg Law reported.13192021

What Altman says about AI

Altman told a Senate subcommittee in May 2023: "I do think, for a very new technology, we need a new framework." OpenAI's written testimony that June called regulation of AI "essential".25

His forecasts have since grown bolder. Marking OpenAI's tenth year in December 2025, he wrote: "In ten more years, I believe we are almost certain to build superintelligence." Nine months later he told the UN Security Council: "We should not train models that we cannot make an extremely strong case that we will be able to keep under human control."1718

On his own company, in a 2025 letter to staff, he was blunter still: "OpenAI is not a normal company and never will be."16

Altman, year by year

1. 2005

   Left Stanford, where he'd been studying computer science, to start Loopt. It was among the first companies Y Combinator funded.378

2. Mar 2012

   Sold Loopt to Green Dot. Loopt's stockholders and some staff shared $40 million in cash.12

3. Feb 2014

   Became president of Y Combinator.8

4. Dec 2015

   Co-chaired OpenAI's launch with Elon Musk.13

5. Mar 2019

   OpenAI set up a capped-profit company, with Altman as chief executive.14

6. May 2019

   Handed Y Combinator to Geoff Ralston.9

7. Nov 2022

   ChatGPT went online as a free research preview.6

8. May 2023

   Told a Senate subcommittee that AI needed a new framework.5

9. Nov 2023

   Fired by OpenAI's board on 17 November. Rehired on the 21st.1011

10. Mar 2024

    Rejoined the board after an outside review found his conduct had not required his removal.11

11. Jan 2025

    Stargate announced: $500 billion over four years for US AI infrastructure.15

12. Oct 2025

    OpenAI restructured. Its non-profit foundation kept 26% of the company, then worth about $130 billion.1

Questions people ask about Sam Altman

OpenAI on Kenning