--- title: "OpenAI CEO Says His Tech Is Poised to “Break Capitalism”" description: "The doomsday prepper CEO of OpenAI has a strange reason for getting out of bed in the morning — and he thinks his company might \"break capitalism.\"" date: "2023-02-03" modified: "2023-02-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-ceo-agi-break-capitalism" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "agi" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI CEO Says His Tech Is Poised to “Break Capitalism” ![The doomsday prepper CEO of OpenAI has a strange reason for getting out of bed in the morning — and he thinks his company might "break capitalism."]() *\Image: Drew Angerer via Getty / Futurism\* ## Marx's Revenge In what**'**s perhaps an attempt to head off bad press — or, at very least, convince people he's not the bad guy — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [has given *Forbes*]() an interview in which he claims that his for-profit company is ultimately going to bring about capitalism's downfall. First, some context. Altman, who is also the president of the uber-influential Y Combinator startup incubator, is one of only OG OpenAI cofounders still standing. The [company's decision]() to go from more of a research vehicle to a for-profit venture in 2019 was somewhat overshadowed by his fellow cofounder [Elon Musk's decision to leave]() the firm — over some seemingly huge[ disagreements about its direction](). The CEO behind the [record-breaking ChatGPT]() has a bit of a strange background, the TL;DR of which being that he once [admitted to being a doomsday prepper]() who believes that killer artificial intelligence or a lab-modified virus could bring about the end of days. Much of the OpenAI CEO's rhetoric in his recent *Forbes* exclusive hinges on the future — the future of the company, of course, but also on the future of AI in general, and how Altman believes it will dovetail with sentient AIs, otherwise known as artificial general intelligence (AGI). ## Anxious General Intelligence While Altman doesn't think we're that close to AIs gaining consciousness — a belief that's not quite shared by [fellow OG OpenAI-er Ilya Sutskever]() — he did tell *Forbes* that creating AGI is "the thrust that drives all my actions" and, it seems, his *raison d'etre* for the firm. In one exchange, *Forbes*' Alex Konrad noted the [inherent tension]() regarding capitalism that's found between OpenAI's "research-driven" foundation and the [buckets of money]() investors have put into it. Altman had a provocative response. "I think capitalism is awesome. I love capitalism," he told *Forbes*. "Of all of the bad systems the world has, it's the best one — or the least bad one we found so far. I hope we find a way better one." "I think that if AGI really truly fully happens," he continued, "I can imagine all these ways that it breaks capitalism." If you're confused by this response, you're not alone. But then again, OpenAI itself was founded to head off the worst outcomes of AGI and is now apparently gunning to make it a reality — so confusion is, it seems, the most rational response to that revelation. **More on OpenAI:** [*We Tested OpenAI's New AI-Detector and Uhhhhh*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()