In “The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future,” Wall Street Journal reporter Keach Hagey examines our AI-obsessed moment through one of its key figures — Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI.

Hagey begins with Altman’s Midwest upbringing, then takes readers through his career at startup Loopt, accelerator Y Combinator, and now at OpenAI. She also sheds new light on the dramatic few days when Altman was fired, then quickly reinstated, as OpenAI’s CEO.

Looking back at what OpenAI employees now call “the Blip,” Hagey said the failed attempt to oust Altman revealed that OpenAI’s complex structure — with a for-profit company controlled by a nonprofit board — is “not stable.” And with OpenAI largely backing down from plans to let the for-profit side take control, Hagey predicted that this “fundamentally unstable arrangement” will “continue to give investors pause.”

Does that mean OpenAI could struggle to raise the funds it needs to keep going? Hagey replied that it could “absolutely” be an issue.

“My research into Sam suggests that he might well be up to that challenge,” she said. “But success is not guaranteed.”

In addition, Hagey’s biography (also available as an audiobook on Spotify) examines Altman’s politics, which she described as “pretty traditionally progressive” — making it a bit surprising that he’s struck massive data center deals with the backing of the Trump administration.

“But this is one area where, in some ways, I feel like Sam Altman has been born for this moment, because he is a deal maker and Trump is a deal maker,” Hagey said. “Trump respects nothing so much as a big deal with a big price tag on it, and that is what Sam Altman is really great at.”

In an interview with TechCrunch, Hagey also discussed Altman’s response to the book, his trustworthiness, and the AI “hype universe.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

You open the book by acknowledging some of the reservations that Sam Altman had about the project —  this idea that we tend to focus too much on individuals rather than organizations or broad movements, and also that it’s way too early to assess the impact of OpenAI. Did you share those concerns?

Well, I don’t really share them, because this was a biography. This project was to look at a person, not an organization. And I also think that Sam Altman has set himself up in a way where it does matter what kind of moral choices he has made and what his moral formation has been, because the broad project of AI is really a moral project. That is the basis of OpenAI’s existence. So I think these are fair questions to ask about a person, not just an organization.

As far as whether it’s too soon, I mean, sure, it’s definitely [early to] assess the entire impact of AI. But it’s been an extraordinary story for OpenAI — just so far, it’s already changed the stock market, it has changed the entire narrative of business. I’m a business journalist. We do nothing but talk about AI, all day long, every day. So in that way, I don’t think it’s too early.

And despite those reservations, Altman did cooperate with you. Can you say more about what your relationship with him was like during the process of researching the book?

Well, he was definitely not happy when he was informed about the book’s existence. And there was a long period of negotiation, frankly. In the beginning, I figured I was going to write this book without his help — what we call, in the business, a write-around profile. I’ve done plenty of those over my career, and I figured this would just be one more.

Over time, as I made more and more calls, he opened up a little bit. And [eventually,] he was generous to sit down with me several times for long interviews and share his thoughts with me.

Has he responded to the finished book at all?

No. He did tweet about the project, about his decision to participate with it, but he was very clear that he was never going to read it. It’s the same way that I don’t like to watch my TV appearances or podcasts that I’m on.

In the book, he’s described as this emblematic Silicon Valley figure. What do you think are the key characteristics that make him representative of the Valley and the tech industry?

In the beginning, I think it was that he was young. The Valley really glorifies youth, and he was 19 years old when he started his first startup. You see him going into these meetings with people twice his age, doing deals with telecom operators for his first startup, and no one could get over that this kid was so smart.

The other is that he is a once-in-a-generation fundraising talent, and that’s really about being a storyteller. I don’t think it’s an accident that you have essentially a salesman and a fundraiser at the top of the most important AI company today.

That ties into one of the questions that runs through the book — this question about Altman’s trustworthiness. Can you say more about the concerns people seem to have about that? To what extent is he a trustworthy figure? 

Well, he’s a salesman, so he’s really excellent at getting in a room and convincing people that he can see the future and that he has something in common with them. He gets people to share his vision, which is a rare talent.

There are people who’ve watched that happen a bunch of times, who think, “Okay, what he says does not always map to reality,” and have, over time, lost trust in him. This happened both at his first startup and very famously at OpenAI, as well as at Y Combinator. So it is a pattern, but I think it’s a typical critique of people who have the salesman skill set.

So it’s not necessarily that he’s particularly untrustworthy, but it’s part-and-parcel of being a salesman leading these important companies.

I mean, there also are management issues that are detailed in the book, where he is not great at dealing with conflict, so he’ll basically tell people what they want to hear. That causes a lot of sturm-und-drang in the management ranks, and it’s a pattern. Something like that happened at Loopt, where the executives asked the board to replace him as CEO. And you saw it happen at OpenAI as well.

You’ve touched on Altman’s firing, which was also covered in a book excerpt that was published in the Wall Street Journal. One of the striking things to me, looking back at it, was just how complicated everything was — all the different factions within the company, all the people who seemed pro-Altman one day and then anti-Altman the next. When you pull back from the details, what do you think is the bigger significance of that incident?

The very big picture is that the nonprofit governance structure is not stable. You can’t really take investment from the likes of Microsoft and a bunch of other investors and then give them absolutely no say whatsoever in the governance of the company.

That’s what they have tried to do, but I think what we saw in that firing is how power actually works in the world. When you have stakeholders, even if there’s a piece of paper that says they have no rights, they still have power. And when it became clear that everyone in the company was going to go to Microsoft if they didn’t reinstate Sam Altman, they reinstated Sam Altman.

In the book, you take the story up to maybe the end of 2024. There have been all these developments since then, which you’ve continued to report on, including this announcement that actually, they’re not fully converting to a for-profit. How do you think that’s going to affect OpenAI going forward? 

It’s going to make it harder for them to raise money, because they basically had to do an about-face. I know that the new structure going forward of the public benefit corporation is not exactly the same as the current structure of the for-profit — it is a little bit more investor friendly, it does clarify some of those things.

But overall, what you have is a nonprofit board that controls a for-profit company, and that fundamentally unstable arrangement is what led to the so-called Blip. And I think you would continue to give investors pause, going forward, if they are going to have so little control over their investment.

Obviously, OpenAI is still such a capital intensive business. If they have challenges raising more money, is that an existential question for the company?

It absolutely could be. My research into Sam suggests that he might well be up to that challenge. But success is not guaranteed.

Like you said, there’s a dual perspective in the book that’s partly about who Sam is, and partly about what that says about where AI is going from here. How did that research into his particular story shape the way you now look at these broader debates about AI and society?

I went down a rabbit hole in the beginning of the book, [looking] into Sam’s father, Jerry Altman, in part because I thought it was striking how he’d been written out of basically every other thing that had ever been written about Sam Altman. What I found in this research was a very idealistic man who was, from youth, very interested in these public-private partnerships and the power of the government to set policy. He ended up having an impact on the way that affordable housing is still financed to this day.

And when I traced Sam’s development, I saw that he has long believed that the government should really be the one that is funding and guiding AI research. In the early days of OpenAI, they went and tried to get the government to invest, as he’s publicly said, and it didn’t work out. But he looks back to these great mid-20th century labs like Xerox PARC and Bell Labs, which are private, but there was a ton of government money running through and supporting that ecosystem. And he says, “That’s the right way to do it.”

Now I am watching daily as it seems like the United States is summoning the forces of state capitalism to get behind Sam Altman’s project to build these data centers, both in the United States and now there was just one last week announced in Abu Dhabi. This is a vision he has had for a very, very long time.

My sense of the vision, as he presented it earlier, was one where, on the one hand, the government is funding these things and building this infrastructure, and on the other hand, the government is also regulating and guiding AI development for safety purposes. And it now seems like the path being pursued is one where they’re backing away from the safety side and doubling down on the government investment side.

Absolutely. Isn’t it fascinating? 

You talk about Sam as a political figure, as someone who’s had political ambitions at different times, but also somebody who has what are in many ways traditionally liberal political views while being friends with folks like — at least early on — Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. And he’s done a very good job of navigating the Trump administration. What do you think his politics are right now?

I’m not sure his actual politics have changed, they are pretty traditionally progressive politics. Not completely — he’s been critical about things like cancel culture, but in general, he thinks the government is there to take tax revenue and solve problems.

His success in the Trump administration has been fascinating because he has been able to find their one area of overlap, which is the desire to build a lot of data centers, and just double down on that and not talk about any other stuff. But this is one area where, in some ways, I feel like Sam Altman has been born for this moment, because he is a deal maker and Trump is a deal maker. Trump respects nothing so much as a big deal with a big price tag on it, and that is what Sam Altman is really great at.

You open and close the book not just with Sam’s father, but with his family as a whole. What else is worth highlighting in terms of how his upbringing and family shapes who he is now?

Well, you see both the idealism from his father and also the incredible ambition from his mother, who was a doctor, and had four kids and worked as a dermatologist. I think both of these things work together to shape him. They also had a more troubled marriage than I realized going into the book. So I do think that there’s some anxiety there that Sam himself is very upfront about, that he was a pretty anxious person for much of his life, until he did some meditation and had some experiences.

And there’s his current family — he just had a baby and got married not too long ago. As a young gay man, growing up in the Midwest, he had to overcome some challenges, and I think those challenges both forged him in high school as a brave person who could stand up and take on a room as a public speaker, but also shaped his optimistic view of the world. Because, on that issue, I paint the scene of his wedding: That’s an unimaginable thing from the early ‘90s, or from the ‘80s when he was born. He’s watched society develop and progress in very tangible ways, and I do think that that has helped solidify his faith in progress.

Something that I’ve found writing about AI is that the different visions being presented by people in the field can be so diametrically opposed. You have these wildly utopian visions, but also these warnings that AI could end the world. It gets so hyperbolic that it feels like people are not living in the same reality. Was that a challenge for you in writing the book?

Well, I see those two visions — which feel very far apart — actually being part of the same vision, which is that AI is super important, and it’s going to completely transform everything. No one ever talks about the true opposite of that, which is, “Maybe this is going to be a cool enterprise tool, another way to waste time on the internet, and not quite change everything as much as everyone thinks.” So I see the doomers and the boomers feeding off each other and being part of the same sort of hype universe.

As a journalist and as a biographer, you don’t necessarily come down on one side or the other — but actually, can you say where you come down on that?

Well, I will say that I find myself using it a lot more recently, because it’s gotten a lot better. In the early stages, when I was researching the book, I was definitely a lot more skeptical of its transformative economic power. I’m less skeptical now, because I just use it a lot more.

Es hora de Géminis, y la vida es fácil. Ya sea que lo consciente o no, las cosas deberían sentirse más fáciles y más fluidas esta semana. Las nubes no se han ido, pero ¿esos estratos bajos amenazan con llover en su fiesta en la azotea? Mágicamente derritiéndose. En su lugar, luces de hadas, gafas llenas y una sensación de optimismo.

Si bien una nueva historia de tres años recién comienza en la parte de Aries de su gráfico (gracias a Saturno), otra parte es concluir a medida que Venus se muda a Tauro (viernes Aest y GMT).

Además de esa ligereza están los últimos días de Júpiter en Géminis, inspirando la espontaneidad, una conversación brillante y una generosidad de espíritu que dice: “¡Déjame obtener la próxima ronda!” Y con Venus ahora en Tauro, no beberás la casa de blanco.

Aries y Aries se elevan

No hay escasez de diversión esta semana, ya que la temporada de Géminis aumenta el ritmo. Pero a pesar del ambiente más ligero, hay mucho reajuste en su propia vida.

Con tanto cambio, su mayor desafío será tratar de mantenerse presente con los problemas frente a usted en este momento. Mientras Venus ofrece su firma de despedida (viernes Aest y GMT), tómese el tiempo para reflexionar sobre cualquier relación o actualización de estilo que haya realizado en los últimos meses.

Tauro y Tauro Rising

Prepárese, estarás de humor para que llove esta semana. Como Géminis inspira un a Hell-with-it Enfoque para su gasto, cualquier cita minorista podría salir de control muy rápidamente. Además de las vibraciones de gastos, su planeta gobernante, Venus, se muda a su letrero de casa.

En términos simples, eso te hará sentir aún más inclinado a invertir en ti … porque vale la pena. Disfruta de la diversión de todo, pero asegúrate de no escribir cheques que no puedas cobrar.

Géminis y Géminis Rising

Hay una gran energía de “sí” que hace ping esta semana, y usted es el 100 por ciento aquí para ello. Con Júpiter y Mercury ayudándote a lanzar, conectar o articular un sueño imposible, te sentirás como una fuerza de la naturaleza. Implente, completamente inspirado y totalmente listo para lo que se te presente.

Da el salto y disfruta de esta última ráfaga de confianza para hacer lo que has estado percolando durante la mayor parte de un año. Ahora es tiempo.

Cáncer y Cáncer Rising

Con mucha acción que se desarrolla en el trabajo, podría sentir que hay espacio para poco más. Por intenso que sea, hay más en la vida esta semana que apagar incendios, lidiar con jefes de alto mantenimiento y manejar egos XL.

Esta energía de Géminis es un antídoto divertido y tal vez incluso un poco tonto. Asegúrese de hacer espacio para priorizar el autocuidado de una manera juguetona y afirmativa de la vida. Asegúrese de hacerlo, es exactamente lo que necesita para equilibrar el drama en el trabajo.

Leo y Leo Rising

¿Picaza para avanzar en el trabajo? Con una dulzura en su esfera profesional hacia el final de la semana, deje de enviar correos electrónicos/solicitando un aumento salarial o haciendo cualquier red importante si puede. Después del viernes, las cosas fluirán 1000 veces más fácil.

Si puedes, haz espacio para jugar con amigos. The Going es excelente para cenas grupales improvisadas, bromas primas o incluso un viaje de chicas de última hora. Ponte entre él.

Virgo y Virgo aumentando

Amo esta semana para ti, especialmente en el frente de trabajo. Con Júpiter, el planeta que trae confianza, carisma y buenas noticias, trabajando doble tiempo (ahora Saturno está fuera del camino, escondido en la parte Aries del cielo), estás en un rollo. Una última explosión de casualidad está en las cartas para su vida profesional esta semana.

Entre entre cualquier red, mezcla o invita a LinkedIn en las que has estado pensando … pero tal vez no te habías sentido lo suficientemente valiente como para la acción. ¡Podría llevar a algo grande!

Libra y Libra Rising

A medida que nos instalamos en su nueva normalidad, hay mucho enfoque en su otra mitad esta semana, ya sea que esté en una relación o no. Mejores compañeros, socios comerciales: vale la pena prestar atención a cualquier bono importante.

Mientras tanto, su mojo de viaje está fuera de las listas. El viaje, el pasaje aéreo, el Airbnb perfecto, lo que sea que haya estado rondado, esta es su semana para bloquearlo. Vaya a planificar algo increíble.

Scorpio y Scorpio Rising

Hay una calma ligera y brillante para esta semana de la que no puedes no ser un poco zumbado. A medida que Venus se prepara para pasar al reino de sus relaciones más importantes, está entrando en una temporada de suntuosa y encarnada belleza. Pero antes de llegar allí, ¿por qué no dar su salud y bienestar un brillo final: los nuevos pantalones de yoga tal vez? Luego, el fin de semana, bloquee algún tiempo para hacer algo que se vea, sabe y huele bien con alguien que le importa.

Si estás en blanco, la indulgencia en solitario hará el truco.

Sagitario Rising

Es otra semana rosada para ti con la temporada de Géminis entregando los productos. Reducciones, gestionar o simplemente planificar una rodilla en el último minuto, todo está bien. La parte posterior de la semana se ve especialmente bien.

En otro lugar, hay un ambiente más tranquilo y medido para su día de trabajo; Un cambio de vibra que sentirá un millón de dólares. Si ha sido un arrastre, prepárese para que las cosas se sientan un poco menos de Ick.

Capricornio y Capricornio Rising

La gran evolución continúa esta semana en torno a su hogar y familia mientras Saturno se acomoda para su primer interludio dentro de su esfera doméstica. Podría sentirse más pesado o más grave de lo que tiene, pero ese es un paseo por el parque para el poderoso Seagoat. En otra parte, la temporada de Géminis trae la ligereza, inspirando un estado de ánimo juguetón y expansivo, especialmente en el trabajo.

Del mismo modo, su salud y bienestar están preparados para un pequeño brillo, por lo que si necesita una excusa para comprar el Nagnata, considere esta su señal de las estrellas.

Acuario y Acuario Rising

Si aún no ha recibido el mensaje, está oficialmente en su era divertida. La temporada de Géminis siempre es un buen momento para tipos aireados como tú, ¿y esta semana? Es uno de los mejores del mes. Venus se desliza en la esfera de su hogar, inspirándote a separarse de repente con efectivo ganado con tanto esfuerzo para zhush.

El fin de semana, una última explosión de Júpiter en la belleza de Géminis aparece el factor de coqueteo y te da un poco más je ne sais quoi Para trabajar la habitación … o reavivar una conexión.

Piscis y Piscis Rising

La gratitud está en gruesa y rápida para los piscanos esta semana, ya que uno de sus planetas gobernantes disfruta de los momentos finales de éxtasis en Géminis. Esa es una excelente noticia si está planeando una fiesta, renovación o cualquier cosa que involucre a la familia. Mientras tanto, Venus se muda a Tauro, inspirando mucho embellecimiento del tipo creativo.

No se sorprenda si se produce un difusor de automóvil Diptyque o una actualización de puntos por capricho. Es la temporada para viajar con estilo. Considérate advertido.

AI cambiará la forma en que usamos nuestros dispositivos, aceleramos las tareas y haciendo algunas en nuestro nombre. ChatGPT y Gemini ofrecen un vistazo a este futuro, con tareas de ChatGPT que llevan las cosas al siguiente nivel creando tareas programadas para que ChatGPT funcione automáticamente.

Mientras que las tareas de ChatGPT se destacan en ciertas áreas, hay espacio para mejorar. Aún así, las tareas de ChatGPT me entusiasman con lo que Google podría hacer con una característica de Géminis similar, dada su profunda integración en los productos, servicios y teléfonos de Google Pixel.

¿Qué son las tareas de chatgpt?

Pon a Ai a trabajar para ti

Las tareas de ChatGPT no obtienen la mayor cantidad de atención de los medios como se merecen. Puede pensar que esta es una función de lista de tareas pendientes con IA en ChatGPT. En muchos sentidos, lo es. Sin embargo, es más inteligente y más capaz. Piense en las tareas de ChatGPT como una forma de programar tareas que AI puede hacer en su nombre o con usted en un momento programado.

Si bien puede crear tareas y recordatorios programados básicos, como pedirle a ChatGPT que le recuerde su aniversario a finales de este año, esto solo está rascando la superficie. Puede instruir a ChatGPT para escanear la web y resumir importantes noticias tecnológicas todos los días a las 9 a.m. También puede pedirle que lo ayude a practicar un nuevo idioma o habilidad diariamente, y crea tareas programadas para esto.

Eso no es todo. Puede pedirle a ChatGPT que le dé un resumen de una reunión importante 15 minutos antes de que comience, y lo hace en consecuencia.

Me estoy recuperando de una lesión en la rodilla, por lo que mis sesiones de gimnasio actualmente se centran en los ejercicios que minimizan la tensión en esa rodilla. Configuré una tarea en ChatGPT para compartir una rutina de entrenamiento de empuje a las 6 pm todos los días, con ejercicios que no se forjan la rodilla. Sin tareas, este habría sido un proceso de varios pasos que habría tenido que repetir a diario.

Otro uso útil que configuré implica hacer clic en una imagen del medicamento que toma mi esposa para proporcionar un contexto relevante, como la cantidad de cápsulas que toma diariamente. Luego, le pido a ChatGPT que configure un recordatorio tres días antes de que termine el medicamento para que pueda ordenar más.

A veces, necesito proporcionar detalles sobre cuántas cápsulas quedan, ya que ChatGPT no puede identificar esta información con precisión de la imagen. Sin embargo, todo el proceso todavía funciona.

Ninguna de las mejores aplicaciones de tareas pendientes en Android puede hacer lo anterior porque carecen de una integración de IA tan profunda.

Las tareas de ChatGPT solo son compatibles con los modelos O3 y O4-Mini. También está limitado a 10 tareas activas.

Géminis puede eclipsar las tareas de chatgpt aprendiendo de sus limitaciones

Donde Géminis puede hacerlo mejor

Si bien es impresionante, después de utilizar ampliamente las tareas de ChatGPT durante algunas semanas, me di cuenta de que la característica tiene deficiencias importantes. Para comenzar, no puede usar tareas de chatGPT en Android o iPhone para cambiar la configuración del sistema.

No puedo establecer una tarea recurrente usando ChatGpt en Android que apaga 5G en mi teléfono todas las noches cuando me voy a dormir. Del mismo modo, ChatGPT en Android no puede interactuar con otras aplicaciones, limitando lo que puede hacer con las tareas de ChatGPT.

Las tareas de CHATGPT solo operan dentro del entorno CHATGPT, limitando su alcance. Aquí es donde Géminis tiene la oportunidad de brillar.

Gemini carece de una función como las tareas de chatgpt. Si le pide que establezca un recordatorio o cree un horario, agrega el elemento a las tareas de Google. No hay forma de que Gemini tome medidas en su nombre en un momento programado automáticamente.

Google tiene la oportunidad de aprender de las limitaciones de las tareas de ChatGPT y, con su profunda integración de Android, ofrecer una experiencia perfecta y poderosa cuando lanza una característica similar.

Gemini puede interactuar con otras aplicaciones de Android y la configuración del sistema de control. Google debería aprovechar esta integración para Gemini para entregar una característica superior de tareas. Por ejemplo, en mi tarea de rutina de entrenamiento, puedo pedirle a Gemini que comparta la rutina de entrenamiento solo cuando estoy en el gimnasio. Esto no es posible con las tareas de ChatGPT, ya que no puede crear recordatorios o tareas basados ​​en la ubicación.

Imagine poder establecer una tarea recurrente en Gemini que utiliza su integración de Gmail para enviar un correo electrónico a los miembros de su equipo todos los viernes por la tarde, proporcionándoles una visión general de las reuniones programadas para la próxima semana.

Del mismo modo, Google puede utilizar la integración de Google Home de Gemini para configurar tareas de hogar inteligentes programadas, como encender las luces al aire libre todos los días a las 5 p.m. Ahora, solo puede pedirle a Gemini que controle su hogar inteligente, no configure una tarea recurrente. Debe crear una automatización para esto.

Relacionado

Géminis 2.0: Cinco cambios principales que necesitas saber

Gemini 2.0 aporta nuevas capacidades de IA al ecosistema de Google

Géminis puede hacerlo mejor, pero no cuente OpenAi todavía

Ambas partes tienen espacio para crecer

Con Gemini integrado profundamente con Android y otros servicios de Google, Google puede ofrecer una característica superior de tareas de ChatGPT con su chatbot de IA. Esto puede explicar por qué la compañía no ha implementado una opción similar en Géminis.

Implementar una característica tan compleja, incluso con la ayuda de la IA, es una tarea desafiante y puede tomar un tiempo considerable. Espero que Google no apresure la implementación para sacarla por la puerta.

Además, sería una tontería contar OpenAi fuera de la carrera con tareas de chatgpt. Esta es solo la primera iteración de la característica, y la compañía puede vincularla a mayores cambios en el futuro para mejorar sus capacidades.