Sam Altman
Co-founder & CEO, OpenAI
Sam Altman is an entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Loopt and led Y Combinator before becoming OpenAI’s CEO.
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At a glance
Sam Altman is an entrepreneur and investor who co-founded Loopt and led Y Combinator before becoming OpenAI’s CEO. His career connects startup building and venture investment with the development and deployment of AI systems, including ChatGPT.
- Current role
- Co-founder & CEO, OpenAI
- Born
- 22 April 1985
- Known for
- OpenAI; Y Combinator; Loopt
- Previously
- Y Combinator president, 2014–2019
- Coverage
- AI research; products; startup investment
Sources checked . Selected career milestones and biographical references.
Career, in context.
Selected milestones, newest first. Explore earlier career below.
OpenAI updates its structure
OpenAI announces the Foundation and Group PBC structure; its governance overview lists Altman as CEO.
Source: OpenAIReturns as OpenAI CEO
After the November leadership crisis, OpenAI announces his return alongside a new initial board.
Source: OpenAIOpenAI introduces ChatGPT
The company releases ChatGPT as a free research preview. This is a company milestone during his leadership.
Source: OpenAILeads OpenAI as CEO
The OpenAI LP announcement identifies Altman as CEO as the organisation introduces its capped-profit structure.
Source: OpenAI
Show earlier careerHide earlier career · 4 milestones
More than 10 years ago.
Helps launch OpenAI
OpenAI is publicly introduced as a nonprofit AI research company, with Altman as a co-chair.
Source: OpenAIBecomes president of Y Combinator
Paul Graham announces Altman as his successor to lead the accelerator.
Source: Y CombinatorLoopt is acquired
Green Dot acquires Loopt, closing the first chapter of Altman’s startup career.
Source: Y CombinatorCo-founds Loopt
The location-based mobile startup joins Y Combinator’s first summer batch.
Source: Y Combinator
The latest on Sam Altman
Newest firstRelated reporting
Briefs, articles and relevant sections, newest first. Explore older coverage below.
More coverage
Valley Gets Played
Meta Swipe Apple, Cursor Moves Shady, LLMs Get Schooled
Silicon, Not Salaries
GPT-5 Preview, Altman Picks Cheaper, AGI Needs Legs
Scale Got Scaled
Label War, Google Billed Again, $30B Burn
Running on "Vibes"
Amazon Bot Empire, Beta Forever, Your MD's Fired
Neural Tapas
Zuck’s Brain Buffet, Siri’s Online Coach, Musk’s Treasure Torrent
AGI, Meet Reality
Potemkin Collapses, Altman’s Nightmare, Runway Eats Dreams
The Great AI Talent Heist: Meta Poaches, OpenAI Pauses
In a plot twist that could only happen in the fevered world of Silicon Valley, OpenAI—the darling of generative AI and the company that gave
Bubble Trouble
SoftBank’s Late Bet, Altman Torches NYT, Google Triple Releases
Altman vs. NYT: Privacy Is the New PR Weapon
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the latest episode of "Tech Titans Throwing Shade," starring Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and The New York Times
