--- title: "Sam Altman Says What OpenAI’s Secretly Working on Will Make Today’s AI Seem “Quaint”" description: "OpenAI's first DevDay was jam-packed with updates and announcements. But according to CEO Sam Altman, we've yet to scratch the AI surface." date: "2023-11-07" modified: "2023-11-07" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-openai-secretly-ai-quaint" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "ai" - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "the digest" --- # Sam Altman Says What OpenAI’s Secretly Working on Will Make Today’s AI Seem “Quaint” ![OpenAI's first DevDay was jam-packed with updates and announcements. But according to CEO Sam Altman, we've yet to scratch the AI surface.]() *\Image: Justive Sullivan via Getty\* ## Birthday Party It should come as no surprise that ChatGPT creator OpenAI held its much-anticipated first developer day yesterday, just a few short weeks ahead of its market-changing AI chatbot's public release anniversary. The developer show — or DevDay, as OpenAI referred to it — didn't seem to disappoint. As [*TechCrunch* reported yesterday](), the Silicon Valley AI darling announced several updates to its product offerings, including [Build-a-Bot services](), a "turbo" version of GPT-4, and a sweeping "[copyright shield]()" for users of its generative AI products. In other words, OpenAI ensured that its much-anticipated first DevDay was jam-packed with new features for investors and users alike to seek their teeth into. And yet, according to the ever-optimistic-yet-slightly-alarmist OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, we haven't seen anything yet. "We hope that you'll come back next year," Altman [told the crowd](). "What we launch today is going to look very quaint relative to what we're busy creating for you now." https://twitter.com/SmokeAwayyy/status/1721605055160496586 ## Double Edges It's a tantalizing claim, given the speed at which we've seen AI develop over the past year. After all, OpenAI's DevDay doesn't just mark the one-year lap of its chatbot's release into public hands; in a big way, it also represents the first anniversary of the ongoing Silicon Valley arms race — a high-dollar market free-for-all [between Silicon Valley stalwarts and newcomers alike]() that was arguably [kicked off]() by the release of ChatGPT's November 2022 reveal. And between advancements in AI chatbots and their underlying LLMs, to the increasingly [convincing realism of AI-generated imagery](), to the unsettling uncanniness of improving AI-powered [visual]() and [auditory]() deepfake tools, to President Joe Biden going as far as to pass an [executive order on AI](), the AI industry has indeed moved quickly over the past year. Heck, [even the Pope is worried]() about the tech. All to say: Altman's prediction could be a sound one, the fact that the CEO is a [noted self-mythologizer]() notwithstanding. And sure, on the one hand, this prediction could spell some exciting advancements. At the same time, though, with announcements like this, it's worth the reminder that human society has [already witnessed]() some [of the predicted negative impacts]() of generative AI tools — and if the tech improves and expands, the double-edges of the sword only stand to get sharper. **More on AI:** [*OpenAI's Chief Scientist Worried AGI Will Treat Us like Animals*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()