Sam Altman & Brad Lightcap: Which Companies Will Be Steamrolled by OpenAI? | E1140
Sam Altman is the CEO @ OpenAI, the company on a mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. OpenAI is one of the fastest-scaling companies in history with a valuation of $90BN and $2BN+ in revenue. Prior to OpenAI, Sam was the President and CEO @ Y Combinator and made angel investments in the likes of Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, Pinterest, Asana and more.
Brad Lightcap is the COO @ OpenAI and the man responsible for the incredible scaling of sales, GTM, partnerships and business to today being over $2BN in revenue. Before OpenAI, Brad was an investor at Y Combinator, where he met Sam and before that led finance and operations initiatives at Dropbox.
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Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(00:55) Building OpenAI 7 Years Ago
(03:15) Origins of the Unique Partnership
(11:34) Challenges Slowing OpenAI's Innovation
(12:45) Collaborative Decision-Making Process
(15:49) Balancing Marginal Revenue & Cost in LLM Products
(18:52) Navigating Model Commoditization in AI
(20:48) AI Startup Strategies for Model Progress
(26:03) Challenges of Iterative Deployment as OpenAI Scales
(29:09) Secrets to OpenAI's Efficient Scaling
(31:21) Talent Attraction
(32:18) Learning from Exceptional Founders
(33:46) AI Go-to-Market Strategies for Enterprise Adoption
(37:47) Challenges in Blending Product & Sales Cultures
(39:15) Evolution of Growth Mindset Post-OpenAI
(43:19) Strategies for Hiring: Experience vs. Hunger
(46:59) Quick-Fire Round
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In Today’s Episode with Sam Altman and Brad Lightcap We Discuss:
1. The Partnership: The Most Powerful Double Act in Tech:
How did 25 people rejecting OpenAI’s CFO positions 6 years ago, lead to Brad joining OpenAI before Sam even did? What did he see that the world did not?
What does Brad think is Sam’s biggest superpower that the world does not know? What does Sam think it Brad’s biggest superpower that the world does not now?
How do decisions get made between Brad and Sam? How do they decide what to delegate vs what not to? What is the most recent disagreement they had? How did they resolve it?
2. The Next 12 Months for OpenAI: Bottlenecks, Compute and Commoditisation:
What are the core bottlenecks facing OpenAI in the next 12 months?
How does Sam believe we solve the fundamental problem of compute?
What is the single biggest barrier to the quality of models improving?
What is the end state for the model landscape? Will models become commoditised?
3. OpenAI: The Fastest Scaling Company in History:
What has been the secret to how OpenAI has scaled to $2BN in revenue in 24 months?
Why does Sam believe that he is “not a great operator”? What drives this thinking?
What have been the first things to break in the scaling of OpenAI?
What do Brad and Sam know now about the scaling that they wish they had known at the start?
Why does OpenAI lean towards hiring more experienced people in the team?
4. How to Invest and Operate in a World of OpenAI:
What single question can founders ask that will reveal if they will be steamrolled by OpenAI?
Does Sam believe huge numbers of companies will be steamrolled by OpenAI?
For investors, is there money to be made investing in the application layer of AI today?
What question should all businesses be asking about how to adopt and use AI in their business?
5. Sam Altman: AMA:
What have been the single biggest lessons Sam has learned from the founders he has invested in?
Which founders has he learned the most from? What did he learn from each?
What is Sam most concerned about in the world today? Why what?
What unexpected traits or characteristics does Sam most look for in the founders he invests in?
Why does Sam say that he is not happy but he is grateful?
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I watched Sam talk and now my throat hurts
Where were you during the world tour?
the miley cyrus sindrome...
LOL
He's got that san fran fry voice. I despise people that talk like this.
@@stt.9433 well he cant help it...
I've watched a lot of interviews with Altman, you've managed to bring very original and interesting questions that got him to give great answers as well.
True! All of Elon interviews are extremely repetetive because ofnthe questions being asked
I know it’s cringy to just say it out loud but if you get it you get it. The game is changing for humanity. You could see Sam is a little fed up because people he thinks should understand it, don’t. It was obvious when he answered that question about when they would be profitable and he said it was the most boring question he gets asked. It’s all about the efficiencies that happen when everyone has a chief of staff at their disposal. just like the president of the United States. If it can be done over the internet, by a team of super smart people it will be available to us. The game is changing. What happens when anyone can have the world’s most effective therapist on a FaceTime call anytime they want. That’s two years away.
sam altman is a waste of humanity. He took a non profit dedicated to researching AI, Open sourcing AI, and non profit. Today sam is running a company, the AI is closed, and sam does not care about safety for humans. He took a non profit, turned it into a for profit, and took from Elon Musk the whole god damned point of what elon started.
Fantastic Interviewing Harry. Fantastic to reveal such insightful depths.
Glad you enjoyed it!
How did you manage to get @sama to wear a 20vc t-shirt?!
set the thermostat to 55 degrees when weather outside is in the 80s lol
he's a fan tweets about it like every episode
@@AndresMiliotoclever
They asked.
He threatened him with Stebbings .:)
Brilliant 💯⭕
Wonderful interview. Great work by all, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I get why someone like Sam wouldn’t understand why the political/ socioeconomic world feels unstable because he probably has a healthy relationship with social media, but….SOCIAL MEDIA. My lord this is so obviously the cigarettes of our time and the blindness floors me.
## Main Takeaways - At any point, there are only 1-3 things that really matter in a company. - These can change, but identifying them and translating them into teams one of the two most important tasks for effective leadership. - The other task is determining the goal you are running towards-as a far out long-term view. - Then, the process of justifying what the few things that matter are is figuring out the fastest accelerants to reach that point. - The cost of very high intelligence will be driven to nearly zero. - There needs to be a clear path on how better underlying intelligence accelerates the product/company, and this must be expressed very clearly, in order to survive. - Ask yourself if hundredfold improvements in models are something you are excited about-this is a really good delineation.
'The cost of high intelligence will be driven to nearly zero'... of course you realize that transates to even less money and incentives for quality education and even more percentage of 'dumb' easily manipulatable 'voter base'... that's where we're headed, 'thanks' to AI. Sad.
So weird discovering Harry Stebbings has a full body.
😂😂😂
😂
Why is it called OpenAI? What's open here?
The rate of adoption for enterprise will be faster than expected... for Microsoft Office users. I'm still confused how OpenAI plans to take AI to enterprise without having Satya eat their lunch.
He's going to keep innovating so they remain a foundational primitive. aka: do a good job.
I cannot wait until ChatGPT or copilot have full understanding of using data to make decisions. It is the core of my job as an electrical engineer.
How do i get the 20 VC jumper or sweatshirt
You go to any printshop bro fr
How did you get Sam to come on your show, let alone wear your Jumper? I watch your pod for nearly 2 years now. The amount of big names you manage to convince to come on your pod despite just few hundreds views per episode is incredible. It would be amazing to know your process. I’m sure your pod will grow over time and wish you best of luck on making it happen!!
Because it's not a real interview. It's basically staged so they can put out their narrative before the lawsuit. They are testing the waters to see if what they are going to say is believable. Unfortunately for them it is far far from that. Nobody's going to believe that one of the kings of venture capitalism doesn't understand how business works. No one's going to believe that he also doesn't understand contractual agreements. But it's super cute that he's drawing though!
They have mutual friends. He said it in the 1st minute of the interview. Which is totally fine. Plus, the show is solid, and Sam Altman is pretty chill, If a podcast is relevant to his AI mission, he is open to speak about the subject for the benefit of all - he's been interviewed on shows/podcasts, university speakathons that get a handful of views. Giga viewership isn't a prerequisite.
@briandoe5746 You do realize that Sam was interviewed by Lex Fridman after the lawsuit, right?
@@ihearditinadream Lex asked softball questions
Great interview! Loved how "light" it was without being dull.
Should there be some sort of IP rights for a business idea, for example a technical functionality, for small businesses? Meaning that if a behemoth will "steamroll" you, you could get maybe a compensation? I personally think that if you implement something first, you should get some sort of benefit from that. That would encourage invention. On the same note I think that small competitors should be allowed to release better products. But I do think that a behemoth with the cash should compensate the little fish it is going to eat. Complex topic!
Wow I remember watching a year ago 20VC videos that were in the low hundreds in views and recalling why there were so few views. So glad this blew up!
What is the company that they talk about at 23:12? The company that will benefit when the models get much better? CC says Clana? Maybe Klarna Bank AB?
Same question here :)
Klarna. It's an app that lends you money by creating a virtual card that can be used in online stores
Klarna
Great interview. A lot of great insight. There are a few other questions I wish you had asked though.
Was checking everyday!! Finally!!!
It's fascinating to hear about the different strategies for building AI models! OpenAI's approach, focusing on continuous improvement with scale, showcases the potential for AI to evolve predictably. Exciting times ahead for AI development! 🔍
What's OAI doing to ensure the data they scrape isn't injected with "poisonous" data? How do you trust a source of truth from which your model is learning from and if your model is relearning from these data sources (which are possibly the output of AI model systems themselves), how do you deal with error propagation within the system?
Nothing... Bro this is narrative building. This is not a real interview. It is a display of a first run at what they will say in court....
Becoming VC as well Founder are superpower. When VC learning from their exceptional founders to be next great iteration Founder that's superpower.
Awesome interview Harry 👌
These interviews are killer. Nice work
Thanks!
I listed to Sam Altman to go to sleep everynight
Hahahaha
how is this channel not subb'ed by at least 1m yet.... good going Harry!
One day! 🚀
got to know about Samuel Harris Altman is an American entrepreneur and investor best known as the CEO of OpenAI since 2019. Thank you for Chat GTP Sir!
sam altman took Elon's idea for a non profit and turned it into a piece of corporate machinery.... OpenAI is not open, and now hes talking about destroying companies.... so its not a non profit. He took elons company and destroyed it.
Important episode Harry!
One thing they miss is that hardware changes so often that previous resources can quickly become obsolete, rendering last year's resources useless. This means that new companies with new strategies, training algorithms, and data can change the game at any time. Since it is all about the latest resources and a group of smart people, the business may not be as solid as you think only with your currently approach.
Great interview. I learn a lot, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
29:42 - Sam laughing at the camera knowing full well something broke when he damn nearly was forced into exile by the board
What mics are those?
Thank you
Welcome!
180 Studios!! 🎉
I miss Ilya in these type of interviews. He's so captivating.
Nice. Been waiting for this episode...
Hope you enjoy!
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *📈 Sam Altman discusses two prevailing strategies in AI development: one assumes AI models will not improve and the other bets on continuous improvement.* 00:26 *🚂 Altman predicts OpenAI will outperform startups not anticipating continuous AI advancements.* 01:02 *🧠 The inception of OpenAI was influenced by the successes of deep learning and its scalability.* 01:44 *🌟 Despite skepticism from others, the founders' conviction in AI’s potential and continuous progress drove them forward.* 02:11 *📚 The journey involved evolving their approaches and innovations, underscored by a fundamental belief intheir strategic direction.* 03:21 *🤝 Brad Lightcap details his longstanding partnership with Sam Altman, highlighting their complementary skills within OpenAI.* 04:03 *🌐 Early recognition of OpenAI's unique potential due to its progressive improvement and scalability in AI model development.* 04:45 *🔄 Brad's transition to a full-time role at OpenAI emerged from an initial intent to assist part-time.* 06:21 *🛠️ Altman praises Brad's adaptability and his pivotal role in transitioning OpenAI to a fast-growing business model.* 07:20 *🚀 The agility to undertake new challenges and the vision to integrate and scale business functions are key traits of Brad’s leadership.* 08:52 *🎯 Sam's strength lies in identifying and focusing intensely on the few critical aspects that truly matter for OpenAI's strategic progress.* 10:31 *🧭 Discussing the primary current focus for OpenAI, emphasizing the importance of pioneering in AI and sustaining innovation.* 11:52 *🏗️ A significant barrier to OpenAI's progress would be the lack of computing resources, highlighting the need for sustainable scaling.* 14:28 *📅 The balance between few pivotal strategic decisions and numerous operational decisions shaping the company’s trajectory.* 17:57 *🤖 Altman discusses the future potential for AI to provide inexpensive and abundant intelligence, transforming societal capabilities.* 20:11 *🌍 The long-term value in AI will likely hinge on personalized models that integrate seamlessly into individual lives.* 20:51 *💥 The rapid advancement of AI models like OpenAI's threatens the viability of many startups that do not anticipate continual improvements in AI.* 21:05 *🔄 Discussing two strategies in AI development: building with or without the expectation of continuous AI improvement.* 21:46 *🚜 Highlighting how OpenAI's ongoing improvements to its models can inadvertently "steamroll" startups that do not evolve at a similar pace.* 22:15 *🌱 Startups aligned with OpenAI’s trajectory of model improvement are more likely to benefit and thrive.* 22:57 *📊 A company’s enthusiasm for new AI models is agood indicator of its potential to harness AI advancements effectively.* 23:39 *🏥 AI advancements in the medical field could dramatically improve access to care and save lives, illustrating the high stakes of rapid AI development.* 24:35 *🌐 OpenAI favors iterative deployment of AI models to facilitate societal adaptation and engagement, rather than sudden, large-scale changes.* 25:18 *🤖 Deploying AI tools like ChatGPT publicly has been crucial for raising global awareness and understanding of advanced AI capabilities.* 26:51 *🔄 Feedback from early releases of AI models is instrumental in shaping research and development strategies at OpenAI.* 28:30 *🧠 The primary barrier to utilizing AI in scientific research is the current limitations in AI intelligence, emphasizing the need for smarter models.* 30:08 *🤱 ChatGPT's diverse applications range from aiding research scientists to assisting new parents, demonstrating its broad utility.* 31:19 *📈 Discussing the rapid scaling of OpenAI, driven by the versatile and impactful applications of ChatGPT across various sectors.* 32:14 *🎯 The importance of maintaining a mission-driven culture in tech companies to avoid becoming merely a "resume-building" stop.* 34:07 *📊 Enterprises often underestimate the transformative potential of AI, focusing too narrowly on immediate ROI instead of broader, long-term benefits.* 37:36 *🔄 The challenge for large corporations is to adapt to the rapid pace of AI development and integrate new technologies into established workflows.* 41:59 *💬 Effective communication is crucial for CEOs, especially in startup environments, for tasks like explaining company direction and selling products.* 43:22 *🧓 OpenAI tends to hire slightly older employees, balancing experience with fresh perspectives which often come from less expected sources within the team.* 44:19 *🏢 Emphasizes creating a team environment where ideas are judged on their merit regardless of the source's experience level.* 45:42 *🔄 Experience is valuable in certain roles, but in a new industry like AI, lack of preconceived methods can also be advantageous.* 46:22 *🌐 The lack of established playbooks in emerging fields like AI means that experience isn't always beneficial for solving new kinds of problems.* 47:20 *📈 The biggest challenge for OpenAI in the near term is maintaining top-quality research and product innovation.* 47:34 *🔄 Changed views on the pace of AI adoption in enterprises, expecting faster integration than traditionally anticipated.* 48:27 *🧠 Surprised by the consistent scalability of AI models; increasing model size reliably improves performance.* 49:25 *📚 Wishes for more time to read, recognizing personal sacrifices made for work commitments.* 50:31 *💑 Highlights the importance of communication and support in maintaining personal relationships while managing intense work demands.* 51:42 *🔮 Avoids making long-term predictions about OpenAI's future, reflecting on the unpredictable nature of technological progress.* Made with HARPA AI
Thank you!!
Been waiting for this one
What startups he is talking about if the base model continuously gets better. What is the need for new standalone apps. Its like generalist will keep getting better in everything then why will we need specialists.
Great interview!
5:35 Is Mr Lightcap taking out a bottle of Absolut Vodka? Wow, that's something and refreshing if it's not only an Ad placement.
One day Sam, I hope you can enjoy a more normal life, with time to read books and pursue other interests. I deeply appreciate all that you do at OpenAI and for the world. Thank you! 😊
How did you get Sam to wear a 20VC sweatshirt?❤🔥❤🔥 - Awesome pod!
29:26 interviewer asks how they scaled so big, so fast. Then the answer is about how useful chat GPT is (distraction). Could the answer lie in how much data was scraped without compensation to anyone?
Hearing Sam Altman call this a technological revolution tickles my brain. Good to know all the geniuses in the world are in agreement. Who else is pumped for the future 🤟🏽
harry we love your shit dude, nice job on the interview, and nice to have brad in there
nice interview but dammmm why hasnt there been a leader since steve jobs who had an ounce of his charisma. lol
Because they spent all their skill points on intelligence. 😂😂 Steve was a salesman. He knew zero about tech.
Good evening Harry Sam and Brad Super exciting shared conversation. Think I very much require to be part of something similar, to begin development of an idea much like a 'St AI research type system' to integrate into a brand new creative healthcare delivery service. For the betterment of all. Story very short! Truly grateful for your shared experience and wisdom. 💜
Sam Altman is the God of AI. NOW 👑
@33:00 wish he'd have one into what "mercenary" means to him. I worked in automation and got called Mercenery by people that did not want their jobs automated (I was the only one hired for automation at the time, so I basically was there to write code to help free up their time, but they saw it as a threat). Just want to understand their perspective better. I am prepared to be replaced by AI and feel I dont do my job correctly if they still need me around for the same tasks. It's like with humans - you can move up once you train someone else well enough to replace your old job that you're wanting to move up from
Where is Ilya?!
brad looks a bit like jimmy fallon
Thank you so much…one day when I get rich I will pay you for this episode 😅
Was hoping for a conversation a bit more focused on the tech. Would have preferred much nerdier questions.
Incredible 20VC shirt with Sama!
Thanks!
I think the best bet is to read over the entire project, then begin. So, where is AI? What's it good for? What can it do? What can it not do? Video games? Can it build has it built a video game?
No quotes from Brad in the intro? 😅
34:40 I think you were trying to say they want to cut cost by removing humans from the equation. How are you guys going to stop AI from removing most people's way of making money?
most people make money by temporarily solving a problem or mitigating it slightly. so, people that advocate for retaining jobs are usually just trying to create or perpetuate problems in some roundabout way. "solve all problems" = "no more jobs", and somehow our dumbass society considers that an issue / just think about it.
I see SO much Henry Cavill in Brad's mannerisms and facial expressions. Just me?
Pink Floyd, “The Wall” Movie Character. 🎬💀
Harry, don't fiddle too much with the pen, you are making them and us nervous 😀
One day its gonna be revealed that Sam Altman is either an AI with vocal fry setting enabled, installed a voice changing module like Elizabeth Holmes
There a three glasses filled water placed at the table… One of them drinks straight out of the bottle, the other one nips out of a plastic cup.
My llm figured out that each time sam sips his water correlates with his annoyance level
Harry was steamrolled by Sam when he said thats a dumb question 😂 Since then poor Harry was defensive whenever asking a question if i am asking a terrible question 😅
decent ai generated video, very convincing, the audio was slightly robotic
The startups have bet on the former category because the latter category requires faith in something we don't have yet ... Of course 95% of people are betting on the former - its a startup, a business, not a pipe dream - people need immediate application. Infact, you wouldn't bet on the former at all if the latter was possible. :)
Sam Altman is the God of AI. 🤖
Looks like a bright future for ai
can you pay attention for one second? Sam Altman took elon's non profit, company dedicated to safety for humans, open AI, and turned it into a company, that sells its AI, and ignores the human safety elements. Sam Altman turned the compnay around so hard in 7 years it literally doesn't have anything to do with Open, Ai safety, or non profit. You understand that elon Hired a CEO for his non profit, named OPenAI. research safety for humans, and sam said okay, and now has closed ai, he doesn't focus on human safety, and he runs it for a profit. This is a dark future when Sam Altman runs his AI in order to become a corporate monster.
Feels like a bubble right now. A lot depends what happens between now and December 2025.
This was awesome
Anthropic for the win who could trust any of these guys especially Sam
Thank you sam...❤
Did anybody try to count every time these two said "like" in a sentence? I am pretty when you sum it up it amounts to at least half of the whole interview.
5:33 Hey dude, easy on that vodka, there is still light outside.
14 minutes and 14 seconds is the most I can tolerate listening to Sam speak. It will take me a couple of days to finish watching this interview.
Wild ❤🔥
Sam is probably right about getting enough compute, but I hope it doesn't rely too much on TSMC. If China invades Taiwan, the foundries will not remain operational. Not for anyone, not even for China if we are being realistic - since TSMC requires international cooperation to run the foundries.
Brilliant...
Sam looks sad and concerned 😟
Open AI with worldcoin and paypal, nvidia
SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA SAMA please build agi. PLEASE
Exlent...➕
Damn.."Lightcap" What a cool name!!
How long did you prepare for this interview? I'd be shitting myself but so so giddy.
This is a masters class in narrative building. Im sure that this has nothing to do with the lawsuit.... 😂
Thanks.....
Sam is good-looking! :)
Why is Sam deliberately trying to speak in a deeper voice 😂
The steamroll comment is going to come back to haunt OpenAI.
They probably already have AGI levels
AI and its Impact on Society Oct 31, 2023, updated on April 11, 2024 We must ask ourselves, "What will happen when AI has taken 85% of jobs present in 2020? What will we do? How will we eat and survive without incomes from jobs or other means?" What is disturbing is that while AI is taking these jobs, the gov't and the corporations have not done ANYTHING to prepare us for an AI'ed civilization. They have not said anything about major retraining of an entire economy to something else, and they have not followed up on a discussion of universal basic income. This is supposedly supported by a lack of information in the latest government budgets submitted and approved as reported by some KZhead videos. It appears that the US gov't and the corporations intend to kill off the majority of Americans passively, through starvation from lack of income to buy food. (check and see if farming production is declining or will start to decline ahead of the "starvation phase") (also check to see if the "makeup" of robot equipment allocation would change to reflect a trend away from retail and services for the masses, possibly indicating an extinction of the American public - this means taking a robot from Chipotle and repurposing it for some other job not related to the public, or scrapping affected robots to be remade for some other purpose that has nothing to do with the public) It appears that the decline of farming has already started with the state of Maine buying farm land under the pretext that there are "forever chemicals" present at around 20 parts per TRILLION (safe level is said to be only 4 parts per TRILLION), which does not make sense, BUT this would rope in a LOT of land across the US. Other states may follow suit in addition to the ten states that have similar laws in place. This way, there are only enough people alive to get some things done, and the rest is done by AI, and the survivors who planned this can claim the whole country for themselves. Imagine having an estate mansion half the size of a mall on several dozen thousand acres of land, and robots would be used to maintain and clean the estates and do the farming FOR THE ESTATE OWNERS. The White Man's wet dream of civilization. What will the Native Americans south of the US border do when they see this coming, especially when they can buy firearms legally now? Hopi prophecy...
horrendous headline 😂 if i'm their PR team, this isn't a good look...
I think they should’ve sat the guests across or perpendicular to each other. This set up has them awkwardly trying to make side eye-contact
Where is Ilya?
Good questions but the format seems dry, get outdoors, add some energy with some time for you to reflect on conversations
Great interview.
Could you imagine if the king of the world/universe had a vocal fry? OMG that would be a horrifying dystopia.
about the general macro instability part - put Trump back in a few month this will feel very different.