OpenAI Altman: Superintelligence will arrive by 2030, AI will not see humans as "ants"

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently stated that AI will surpass human intelligence before 2030. He believes that AI will make tremendous progress in the coming years, potentially even achieving scientific discoveries that humans cannot accomplish independently. He also mentioned that OpenAI plans to develop a series of devices to redefine the way computers are used.

German newspaper WELT interviewed Altman in Berlin last week. The following is a detailed Q&A (abridged).

Question: Sam, what is one trait that AI will never be able to replace in you?

Sam Altman: I think we will find the answer. But one thing is unique: people care about others and what they do, and care about the need to interact with others.

I believe these traits will become increasingly important in the world of AI. We will have an incredible tool, but we still need to figure out what to do, what others need, and what others will find useful.

Question: AI is developing rapidly. When do you think superintelligence will emerge, able to surpass humans in all aspects?

Altman: In many ways, GPT-5 is already smarter than me, at least, I think that's true for many others as well.

GPT-5 can do many impressive things, but it also cannot accomplish tasks that many humans can easily complete.

This situation will persist for a while, because humans will use these tools and leverage their human insight, creativity, and wisdom. I expect that the trajectory of AI capability progress will remain extremely steep.

Since the release of ChatGPT, in just three years, the model's capabilities have improved dramatically. I see no sign of this progress slowing down. In another two years, it is very likely that AI will make scientific discoveries that humans cannot accomplish alone. For me, that's when it truly begins to count as superintelligence.

Question: In which specific year do you expect this superintelligence to appear?

Altman: I would definitely say that by the end of this decade, that is, by 2030, if we don't have extraordinary models that can do things we ourselves cannot, I would be very surprised.

Also, if by 2026 we haven't seen a pace of progress similar to that of 2024 and 2025, I would also be surprised. That is to say, by the end of 2026, I expect to see some models that, if they existed today, would be truly astonishing.

Question: What jobs today might disappear in the foreseeable future?

Altman: Think about the jobs we did 30 years ago, which may not exist at all today, or new jobs that are commonplace today but were unimaginable 30 years ago.

I read a statistic that about half of the jobs in society change every 75 years. Even without AI, this change would happen. I think it will happen, and I expect it to happen even faster now.

We should think more about the proportion of tasks completed by AI, rather than the proportion of jobs replaced. There are many jobs where most of the work content will change. Of course, entirely new jobs will also emerge. And many existing jobs will disappear completely, replaced by these new jobs.

More interestingly, in everyone's job, how many of the tasks you do every day will be completed by AI? I can easily imagine that in the near future, 30% to 40% of tasks in the economy will be completed by AI.

Question: You became a father this year. What kind of education would you recommend for your son so that he won't just be replaced by AI in 30 years?

Altman: The meta-skill of learning how to learn, learning how to adapt, learning how to cope with many changes. As I mentioned before, learning how to figure out what people need, how to make useful products and services for them, and how to interact with the world.

I believe people will still be at the center of each other's stories. In this world, anything can become wonderful. I also believe that people's desire for new things, the wish to help others, and the urge to express creativity are limitless.

People naturally worry in all these technological revolutions about what we will actually do. In the industrial era, machines arrived. We watched them do what we used to do and asked ourselves, "Where is our place?"

Every generation will use their creativity, new ideas, and all the tools built by the previous generation to surprise us. I believe my children will do the same.

Question: You sound very optimistic, but there are also many AI critics. For example, researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky says that the relationship between superintelligence and humans is roughly like that between humans and ants. Are you worried that AI will eventually see us as ants and simply wipe us out?

Altman: I've heard many people describe the relationship between AI and humans in different ways.

My favorite is what my co-founder Ilya Sutskever once said: he hopes that AI's general intelligence will treat humans like loving parents. When we ask this question, we are actually projecting human emotions onto AGI.

I believe this tool will be extremely powerful. Even if it has no intentions, asking it to do something could have consequences we can't understand. So, aligning it with human values is very important. I don't think it will treat humans like ants.

Question: Critics accuse you of turning OpenAI from a non-profit organization into a commercial enterprise, partially ignoring safety risks in the process. Do you agree with this criticism? Or do you think that sometimes, for the sake of progress, you have to move forward?

Altman: First of all, we still have a non-profit entity, and we always will. I hope we will have the most well-resourced, possibly most influential non-profit organization. This is crucial to our mission.

This governance role is also important to our mission, ensuring that we stick to our mission and prioritize safety, well-being, and the greatest benefit to humanity.

Obviously, we've made some mistakes, because we know that with this new technology, we will make more mistakes in the future. But overall, I am incredibly proud of our team's achievements in ensuring these services are safe, widely beneficial, and broadly disseminated.

Question: The world is watching OpenAI's hardware innovation. You hired an Apple designer for this. We can assume the device will look great, but what can it do?

Altman: It will look great.

The two major revolutions in computer use were the mouse and keyboard, and the windowed display system. That was undoubtedly a breakthrough. Then we had touch devices, which changed the model, removed the mouse, let you operate with your fingers, and made devices more personal. That was a huge change.

Fundamentally, we've never had anything as powerful as AI. Computers can truly understand our needs and think, which redefines what it means to use a computer. So we're still exploring. This process will take a long time, so don't expect results soon.

But over time, I expect we will launch a small series of devices. They will definitely look great, but that's not the most important thing. If we do well enough, I hope they can change the way computers are used, the way you work, entertain, and live. But there's still a lot of work to do and a lot to explore before we reach that goal.

Question: Can you give an example of what features or capabilities such a device might have?

Altman: Right now, if you want to do a task on a computer, you have to click around and switch between multiple applications. If the task is complex, it may take a while. One major advantage of AI is that you can set a complex task and let it be completed over a day, a month, or even a year.

You can really imagine posing a very complex but concise question to a computer and completely trusting it to make the right decisions, coming back to you for help when needed. This will completely change the feeling of using a computer, rather than launching a bunch of apps and receiving constant notifications. That's one example.

Question: The US tech industry has always had a liberal democratic tone. Now, many tech leaders are expressing support for Trump. How do you explain this shift in atmosphere?

Altman: The tech industry should work with any US president. But in this particular case, I think some policy changes are welcome. Building infrastructure in the US has always been difficult and is crucial for companies like ours. President Trump has done very well in this regard. A more pro-business and pro-tech climate has also brought positive changes.

Question: The US is now extremely divided. What do you think about the idea of letting AI govern as the US president in the future?

Altman: I don't think people will be willing to do that anytime soon. However, I expect presidents and leaders around the world will increasingly use AI to help them make complex decisions. But I think we still want humans to sign off on those decisions.

Question: Finally, many people are seeking relationship advice from ChatGPT. Have you ever asked your AI assistant for help with relationship issues?

Altman: I don't use it for that as often as others do. I've tried, but that's not my main personal use case. But obviously, many people do use it for those things.