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Sam Altman: ChatGPT pioneer and the other Uncle Sam of AI

In the original podcast "The Other Uncle Sam. Altman, the man at the centre of the world' from Sole 24 Ore, we discover the story of Sam Altman, the ChatGPT pioneer and his impact in AI. The podcast includes interviews with industry experts and charts the future of artificial intelligence

1 August 2024

3' min read

On 30 November 2022, a tweet marks a historic moment: ChatGPT is online, available to all. Reactions vary between enthusiasm and concern, but the underlying thought is only one: I want to try it. That tweet was written by Sam Altman .

This is how the general public discovered the wonders of generative artificial intelligence and its pioneer. A boy who grew up in Missouri to whom no one could say "no". Not even a dismissal that seemed likely to tear him away from his creature.

To know Altman is to know a piece of our future. With Luca Salvioli, we tried to do so in the original Sole 24 Ore podcast The Other Uncle Sam. Altman, the man at the centre of the world . An account of the milestones of his career, his strategic and economic thinking. In the five episodes, online from 31 July on the Sole 24 Ore website and on all streaming platforms, it emerges how Altman fits perfectly into the storytelling of Silicon Valley.

The podcast also features interviews with those who know him well. Such as Marco Trombetti , CEO of Translated, the first company to experiment with AI in the field of translation; and Michele Casertano, senior director of product at Verkada, a company based in San Mateo, California, specialising in the development of cloud-based building security systems.

The first episode investigates the origins of what we have dubbed 'The Other Uncle Sam'. Because, like the Uncle Sam of American advertising posters, Altman is charting the path of tomorrow, bringing the US back into the centre of the AI race. Altman grew up in St. Louis and received his first computer at the age of 8, which opened the door to the Internet and programming.

In 2003, he enrolled at Stanford, immersing himself in Silicon Valley. He founded his first creature, Loopt, a networking app. He dedicates himself to it to the point of abandoning his studies. In 2014, he became president of Y Combinator, taking the valuation of his portfolio companies beyond $150 billion in four years.

L’altro zio Sam

listen to the PODCAST "THE OTHER UNCLE SAM"

The second instalment explores the founding of OpenAI . It all starts in 2015 during a dinner at the Rosewood Hotel, California. Altman, Elon Musk and partners decide to found a non-profit open source AI lab. Objective: that it is safe and aligned with human values. On 30 November 2022, ChatGPT is released, attracting millions of users and representing a quantum leap in generative AI.

The third episode starts with a date etched in the memory of Silicon Valley . On 17 November 2023, Altman receives a call. It is the board members of OpenAI and they have only one message: you are fired. Altman, in disbelief, comments on the decision, expressing his displeasure but also gratitude for the time he spent there. Microsoft , which has invested $13 billion in OpenAI, sees its stock suffer on the stock market and its CEO announces Altman's hiring at the company to reassure investors. The crisis explodes when two-thirds of OpenAI's employees sign a petition for Altman's return. Otherwise, they are ready to resign en bloc. The situation is resolved with an agreement that brings Altman back to lead OpenAI and the resignation of two independent board members who had asked for and received his head.

La nascita di OpenAI

Today, Altman is the new name in tech. His approach to leadership, different from the likes of Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, is analysed in the fourth episode. His first startup was not a success, but his experience at Y Combinator allowed him to perfect himself. If his counterparts were difficult with respect to politics, Altman realised its importance in ensuring access to computational resources and data, necessary to develop artificial intelligence. This is why he compares like a head of state.

The Other Uncle Sam concludes its journey in the fifth episode, where future perspectives and scenarios of AI are outlined. A future full of questions, to which Altman has every interest in providing his answers. Above all, he knows where to go: he wants to create a General AI, capable of learning and solving problems like a human being. But first it must be aligned with human values.

How to do it? In the podcast we try to answer this and other questions. One thing, however, we can anticipate: the other Uncle Sam, with his poster face, has brought the United States back to the centre of the technological revolution.

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