Ask HN: What's so special about Sam Altman?
6 comments
I don’t think theres anything special. He just happened to be the right person with the best skills at the right time with the right people backing his dream.
That said, he was the one that got AI into the hands of the masses and changed* the trajectory of the future.
That said, he was the one that got AI into the hands of the masses and changed* the trajectory of the future.
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He's subservient to the government.
His hypocrisy is astoundingly special. I trust nothing he says because he steadily backtracks on each and every promise, promises he's making on phantom mountains of money, so it's not surprising they fall through, but it is surprising to me that people still keep looking up to him. He's a greedy grifter.
You can watch this video for a detailed history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyI38Vp1PGw
I don't know anything about Sam Altman, and so I cannot endorse the views presented in the video. However, this channel is usually very informative with detailed research and analysis and is usually spot on with their predictions.
One aspect I find curious about this video is that the description matches a lot of the famous SV billionaires. Not all of them, but all the usual suspects. They're all either privileged by birth, or has unusual luck of being at the right place at the right time. They may or may not have some talent, but they never acknowledge their privilege and luck. They all have made some disastrous decisions in the past, but failed upwards due to their privilege. They never mention any of those.
And some among them (this is not necessarily about Altman) exhibit a very curious behavior that's like a movement or cult among them. Once they become rich and famous, they start believing that they're special compared to all the plebs out there. They oppose the social and educational programs that empowered them in the first place. Whenever they talk about 'freedom', they're talking about their freedom to do whatever they want, even to the detriment of the others. They believe that they're divinely gifted with business acumen and therefore should be the decision makers and controllers of large populations and resources (they don't like democracy). They even have clubs and literature based on this idea.
I don't know anything about Sam Altman, and so I cannot endorse the views presented in the video. However, this channel is usually very informative with detailed research and analysis and is usually spot on with their predictions.
One aspect I find curious about this video is that the description matches a lot of the famous SV billionaires. Not all of them, but all the usual suspects. They're all either privileged by birth, or has unusual luck of being at the right place at the right time. They may or may not have some talent, but they never acknowledge their privilege and luck. They all have made some disastrous decisions in the past, but failed upwards due to their privilege. They never mention any of those.
And some among them (this is not necessarily about Altman) exhibit a very curious behavior that's like a movement or cult among them. Once they become rich and famous, they start believing that they're special compared to all the plebs out there. They oppose the social and educational programs that empowered them in the first place. Whenever they talk about 'freedom', they're talking about their freedom to do whatever they want, even to the detriment of the others. They believe that they're divinely gifted with business acumen and therefore should be the decision makers and controllers of large populations and resources (they don't like democracy). They even have clubs and literature based on this idea.
High functioning sociopath. He is machiavellian. His sister accused him of raping her.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6lq6x2gd9o
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6lq6x2gd9o
Besides fund raising, what else can we really say wow about? I am genuinely curious. He seems to me like a beneficiary of a system that rewards his type/kind, not much else.
I could be wrong. I am very curious. What about him stands out?