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.
Get AI Secret’s free daily briefing, including Sam Altman and the wider AI industry.
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
Altman Admits Defeat
Plus: IRS Cuts 25% of Staff, Insurers Quit on AI Risk
Gemini 3 Ascends the Throne
Plus: Half the Internet Falls, Tesla Shows Its FSD
Mind Captioning
Plus: Whistleblowers to Job Loss, OpenAI Launched GPT-5.1
The Lehman Echo
Plus: Moonshot Defies the Scale Law, Humanist Superintelligence
Altman Dares the Market
Plus: When AI Builds Cars, Google’s Turkey Gambit
OpenAI Starts IPO
Plus: Nestlé Runs on Intelligence, Oreo’s AI Ad Factory
Google Drops Veo 3.1
Plus: ChatGPT Adds “Adult Mode”, Google Builds AI Empire
Soft Landing AGI
Plus: Oura’s Gender Shift, California Nuked AI Companion
Wall Street Catches the OpenAI Fever: Trading the Name, Not the Numbers
On Wall Street, an algorithm once referred to lines of code, quiet formulas buried inside servers that calculated risk and return. Today, it has a new
