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
End of Vending
Plus: Bank Bans Hugging Face, Rules Without Rulers
AI-Generated Life
Plus: OpenAI’s Phantom, Hollywood is Dead
The Breakpoint: OpenAI Rewrites Its Future with Microsoft
For nearly a decade, OpenAI has lived inside a paradox. It was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit meant to “benefit all of humanity,” funded by
AI Bootcamps
Plus: The First AI Organizer, AI TA Crushes ChatGPT
Google.com Nears Sunset
Plus: AI’s “Inbreeding” Problem, Eat the Bottom Tier
First AI Bank
More Stories: Google AI Screws Restaurants, AI Shatters Art
The Great Washington Price War of Artificial Minds
In August 2025, Washington staged a theater of the absurd. Three of Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google—entered a bidding war
Neural Clash
Half Your Office Now Trusts AI More Than You
Generalist Behavior
More Stories: OpenAI’s Black Box, Nvidia Bets on Physical AI