--- title: "Sam Altman’s Right-Hand Man Says AI Is Overhyped" description: "  There's been a tremendous amount of hype surrounding the emergence of AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT. In less than a year, the tool rose to become the fastest-ever growing app of any kind, amassing a user base of around 100 million weekly active users. That kind of popularity has sent OpenAI's valuation soaring. Recent […]" date: "2023-12-08" modified: "2023-12-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/sam-altman-brad-lightcap-man-ai-overhyped" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" --- # Sam Altman’s Right-Hand Man Says AI Is Overhyped ![In an interview with CNBC, OpenAI COO and CEO Sam Altman's right-hand man Brad Lightcap said that certain aspects of AI are "overhyped."]() *\Image: LinkedIn / Futurism\* There's been a tremendous [amount of hype]() surrounding the emergence of AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT. In less than a year, the tool rose to [become the fastest-ever growing app]() of all time, amassing a user base of around [100 million weekly active users](). That kind of popularity has sent OpenAI's valuation soaring. Recent [estimates suggest]() the company's value is hovering around $86 billion. But is it all just hype — or is OpenAI's rise to stardom a success story that warrants the many billions of dollars being poured into it by the likes of tech giant Microsoft? Are we collectively waiting for a [bubble to pop]()? Interestingly, even the company's own leadership isn't entirely sure it has a complete answer to those questions. In an [interview with *CNBC*](), OpenAI COO and CEO Sam Altman's right-hand man Brad Lightcap said that certain aspects of AI are "overhyped," especially when it comes to the sky-high expectations of the company's enterprise AI customers. "And there’s almost never a silver bullet answer there — there’s never one thing you can do with AI that solves that problem in full," he said. "And I think that’s just a testament to the world being really big and messy, and that these systems are still evolving, they’re still really in their infancy." Perhaps unsurprisingly, OpenAI was blindsided by the runaway success of ChatGPT. Lightcap reportedly used the company's image generator DALL-E as a benchmark to predict how many people would end up using the chatbot. "I remember us taking bets on how large ChatGPT would ever get," he told *CNBC*. "I think I had one of the more aggressive bets, which was a million concurrent users at any given point at the apex of our use." "So that was kind of where we were, and we were very wrong," Lightcap admitted. But instead of dismissing the hype surrounding the tech, the COO remained optimistic about the future of the company. "My spicy take on this is I think the most important things that get built on top of this technology are actually things that haven’t been created yet," he told *CNBC,* adding we still haven't created "something that’s really greater than the sum of its parts." Of course, whether that future will ever materialize remains to be seen. We've already observed a [considerable falloff]() in consumer interest in ChatGPT. On a broader scale, we've also repeatedly seen the tech's nagging shortcomings, which persist to this day, from [flawed use cases in journalism]() to its [inability to answer complex questions]() that require any degree of reasoning. But while some cracks are starting to show, there's still considerable momentum behind the tools being developed by the likes of OpenAI. And one of the biggest drivers behind the company's appetite to bring tools like ChatGPT to market is Altman, who was [unexpectedly sacked]() by the company's non-profit board, only to be [reinstated]() a number of [extremely chaotic]() days later. "Sam is fun to work with — moves incredibly fast," Lightcap told *CNBC*. "I think he and I have that in common, that we like to maintain high velocity on all things." But at the end of the day, Lightcap sees himself as the one to bring Altman back down to Earth, which is easier said than done. "The challenge that we have is that the technology is changing quickly," he added. **More on OpenAI:** *[OpenAI Refuses to Comment on Secretive Q\* AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()