{"id":642962,"date":"2026-06-17T05:33:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642962\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T05:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T05:33:30","slug":"ai-will-probably-most-likely-lead-to-the-end-of-the-world-but-in-the-meantime-therell-be-great-companies-quote-of-the-day-by-openai-ceo-sam-altman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/642962\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there\u2019ll be great companies&#8217; &#8211; quote of the day by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"elk-6ecc3dba-b7cc-42f5-88f6-0b662b33bed0\">We&#8217;re very well accustomed to the AI doomsday scenario, popularized by science fiction writing and cinema. But it&#8217;s only in recent years that experts have seriously entertained a non-zero chance of an AI cataclysm actually happening.<\/p>\n<p>Although Sam Altman has a <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/13\/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2026\/04\/13\/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">mixed record on AI safety<\/a>, he has always been a <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/ai-platforms-assistants\/openai\/ai-will-also-present-new-threats-to-society-sam-altman-issues-stark-warning-as-usd1-billion-plan-is-revealed\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/ai-platforms-assistants\/openai\/ai-will-also-present-new-threats-to-society-sam-altman-issues-stark-warning-as-usd1-billion-plan-is-revealed\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/ai-platforms-assistants\/openai\/ai-will-also-present-new-threats-to-society-sam-altman-issues-stark-warning-as-usd1-billion-plan-is-revealed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">vocal proponent of checks and balances<\/a>, at least in public.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think that AI will probably, most likely, sort of lead to the end of the world. But in the meantime, there will be great companies created with serious machine learning.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sam Altman, June 2015<a id=\"elk-550e702c-7d41-4769-bad6-c8a47b626842\"\/>The great economic promise<a id=\"elk-seasonal\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-260aae63-e6d2-483d-9faf-351124dea924-0\">We&#8217;ve long considered AI tools to be a huge boon to business productivity, with tools like <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/what-is-machine-learning\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/what-is-machine-learning\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/what-is-machine-learning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">machine learning<\/a> and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/rpa-and-ia-the-automation-tools-reshaping-business\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/rpa-and-ia-the-automation-tools-reshaping-business\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/rpa-and-ia-the-automation-tools-reshaping-business\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">robotic process automation<\/a> (RPA) widely considered key enablers in the previous enterprise era.<\/p>\n<p>Latest Videos From<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/media\/img\/techradar_logo_v2.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"block h-[18px] w-auto shrink-0 brightness-0 invert\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/media\/img\/techradar_logo_v2.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"max-h-12 w-auto\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Months before cofounding OpenAI, Sam Altman, then head of the famous Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator, joked about the vast breadth of outcomes that future AI systems may pose.<\/p>\n<p>Quote of the day<\/p>\n<p class=\"fancy-box__body-text\">This article is part of TechRadar Pro&#8217;s QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/qotd\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/qotd\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/qotd\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read the full series here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-41dfff5b-9bba-45cd-b692-7374df937939\">Back then, machine learning was relatively immature and large language models (LLMs) hadn&#8217;t seen the light of day.<\/p>\n<p>            You may like<\/p>\n<p>Since then, however, we have, at least, seen part of his premonition come to pass, with the valuation of so many massive names in the tech and AI buildout surging, led by <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/nvidia\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/nvidia\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/nvidia\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nvidia<\/a>, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/google\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/google\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/google\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google<\/a>, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/microsoft\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/microsoft\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/tag\/microsoft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Microsoft<\/a>, and many others.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-3b5d8b1f-e2f6-47d0-ae95-dec00e0368f5\"\/>Need for safety<\/p>\n<p id=\"elk-4852bc85-05b2-4178-b320-9220e4c5dd85\">The Financial Times recently <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/charts\/comments\/1oswzpk\/chart_ai_could_end_scarcity_end_humanity_or_boost\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/charts\/comments\/1oswzpk\/chart_ai_could_end_scarcity_end_humanity_or_boost\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">published a chart<\/a> perfectly encapsulating Sam Altman&#8217;s decade-old comment, which he made during an interview with then-Airbnb CTO Mike Curtis at the firm&#8217;s Open Air 2015 conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!<\/p>\n<p>The possibility of existential AI risks are now being taken very seriously by scientists and public policy experts as neural network-powered LLMs improve, and researchers begin <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/we-can-realistically-replicate-human-intelligence-in-ai-heres-how-well-achieve-agi\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/we-can-realistically-replicate-human-intelligence-in-ai-heres-how-well-achieve-agi\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/pro\/we-can-realistically-replicate-human-intelligence-in-ai-heres-how-well-achieve-agi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">projecting the birth of AGI in the coming decades<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Although Sam Altman has continuously vocalized the need for the world to prioritize AI safety in public, it&#8217;s also true that, in private, concerns exist over whether rushing out products compromises this safety-first stance. This <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/sam-altmans-ouster-openai-was-precipitated-by-letter-board-about-ai-breakthrough-2023-11-22\/\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/sam-altmans-ouster-openai-was-precipitated-by-letter-board-about-ai-breakthrough-2023-11-22\/\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">came to a head in November 2023<\/a> when OpenAI&#8217;s board of directors ousted Altman, only for the company chief to return days later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We&#8217;re very well accustomed to the AI doomsday scenario, popularized by science fiction writing and cinema. But it&#8217;s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-642962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}