A Decade Since OpenAI’s Formation
Marking 10 years since OpenAI’s public debut on December 11, 2015, CEO Sam Altman published a reflective blog post recalling the organisation’s turbulent beginnings, early optimism and its rapid ascent to the forefront of global AI innovation. OpenAI formally began operations in early 2016, but the announcement a decade ago set in motion what Altman calls “a crazy, unlikely, and unprecedented mission”.
Early Struggles, ‘Unreasonable Optimism’ and Breakthrough Discoveries
Altman described the early OpenAI team as “15 nerds” driven by conviction despite a small chance of success. The CEO said early years were difficult but filled with foundational breakthroughs, including reinforcement learning advances, the unsupervised sentiment neuron, and initial work on AI alignment using human preferences. These milestones, he noted, signalled the need for massive compute scale and paved the way for future systems.
ChatGPT’s Arrival Marked a Turning Point
The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 shifted global perception around AGI. Altman wrote that suddenly, “AGI was no longer a crazy thing to consider.” Adoption grew at an unprecedented pace, forcing OpenAI to develop new operating models, rapid decision-making systems and what he described as a “new muscle” for scaling a global AI platform at record speed.
AI’s Impact and the Road to Superintelligence
Altman said OpenAI now has AI systems capable of outperforming “most of our smartest people” on complex problems, while users worldwide have harnessed the technology for extraordinary applications. He expressed optimism for the next decade, stating he is confident OpenAI will be able to build superintelligence responsibly.
He added: “Our mission is to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity… we are proud of what people are already achieving with this technology, and we know there is much more coming.”
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