A peek into future as Sam Altman sees it

News Summary

  • And then also a system where we can create enough energy and enough reliable energy, both in terms of the machines not breaking, and also not having the intermittency or the need for storage of solar or wind or something like that.
  • In the meantime, below is an excerpt from our discussion about one of Altman’s biggest bets: a nuclear fusion company called Helion Energy that, like OpenAI, is aiming to turn another long-elusive promise — this one of abundant energy — into reality.
  • I wonder what you think of its approach, which is very different froms that of Helion (which is building a fusion machine that’s reportedly long and narrow and will use aluminum magnates to compress fuel, then expand it to get electricity out of it).I’m super happy for them.
  • There aren’t many people who can write a $375 million check.Or, like, many people who would [invest it] in one risky fusion company.Which have been your most successful investments to date?I mean, probably on a multiples basis, definitely on a multiples basis: Stripe.
  • You have been funding this company since 2015, but when it announced a $500 million round last year, including a $375 million check from you, I think that surprised people.
  • Also I think that was, like, my second investment ever, so it seemed a lot easier.
Late last week, in a rare sitdown before a small audience, this editor spent an hour with Sam Altman, the former president of Y Combinator and, since 2019, the CEO of OpenAI, the company he famously [+6843 chars]