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Sam Altman | Biography, OpenAI, Microsoft, & Facts
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High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Useful as a quick factual reference on Sam Altman for wiki users seeking background on a key decision-maker shaping OpenAI's direction, AI safety discourse, and frontier AI deployment policy.
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Importance: 30/100wiki pagereference
Summary
A Britannica biographical overview of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, covering his early career, role at Y Combinator, and leadership of OpenAI including its partnership with Microsoft. Provides factual background on a central figure in AI development and governance debates.
Key Points
- •Sam Altman serves as CEO of OpenAI, the organization behind GPT-4 and ChatGPT, making him one of the most influential figures in modern AI.
- •Previously led Y Combinator, giving him significant influence over the startup ecosystem before transitioning full-time to AI.
- •OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft, overseen by Altman, has major implications for AI deployment and commercialization.
- •Altman has been a prominent public voice on AI safety, existential risk, and the need for AI regulation and governance.
- •His brief firing and reinstatement as CEO in November 2023 highlighted governance tensions at the frontier of AI development.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
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| Sam Altman | Person | 40.0 |
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Table of Contents
Introduction & Quick Facts
Early life
Loopt and Y Combinator
OpenAI: ChatGPT and turmoil
Read More
OpenAI
Elon Musk
Howard Hughes
Table Of Contents
Biographies
Entrepreneurs
Sam Altman
American entrepreneur
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Also known as: Samuel Harris Altman
Written byErik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen
Erik Gregersen is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica, specializing in the physical sciences and technology. Before joining Britannica in 2007, he worked at the University of Chicago Press on the Astrophysical Journal. Prior to that, he worked at McMaster University on the ODIN radio astronomy satellite project.
Fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
Table of Contents
Introduction & Quick Facts
Early life
Loopt and Y Combinator
OpenAI: ChatGPT and turmoil
Read More
OpenAI
Elon Musk
Howard Hughes
Table Of Contents
Open full sized image
Sam Altman is CEO of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company that developed ChatGPT.
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
in full:Samuel Harris Altman
born:April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (age 40)
News
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Sam Altman-backed fusion startup Helion in talks to sell power to OpenAI | TechCrunch • Mar. 23, 2026, 11:03 AM ET(TechCrunch)
...(Show more)
Sam Altman (born April 22, 1985, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.) is an American entrepreneur who was president of the start-up accelerator Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019 and chief executive officer (CEO) of the artificial intelligence (AI) compan
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