OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared his reflections on the company’s progress over the past two years and outlined its ambitious plans to achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) by 2025, followed by the development of superintelligence.
"We founded OpenAI because we believed that AGI could become the most transformative technology in human history," Altman stated. "We still have much to learn, but today we know far more than we did when we first started."
The launch of ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, marked a turning point in OpenAI's development and triggered a global boom in the field of artificial intelligence. Initially designed as a demonstration project for the GPT-3.5 model, it quickly evolved into a cultural phenomenon.
"We knew a breakthrough moment for artificial intelligence would come someday, but we didn’t expect it to be this particular launch," Altman writes. "Now, we’re witnessing the positive outcomes we’ve always hoped AI could bring, while understanding that many discoveries still lie ahead."
Over the past two years, the user base of ChatGPT has grown from 100 million to over 300 million active users per week. OpenAI has also introduced advanced models for complex logical reasoning, such as o1 and o3, marking a significant step towards creating AGI.
Despite these achievements, OpenAI's journey has not been smooth. In November 2023, Altman was unexpectedly fired from his position as CEO by the board of directors. This incident became a public scandal and caused a wide stir.
"The dismissal felt like a nightmare come true," shared Altman. "But this experience helped us become stronger."
After the crisis moment, OpenAI focused on strengthening its management structures and rebuilding trust. Altman pointed out that the incident highlighted the importance of diverse perspectives in the board of directors and strong corporate governance.
The primary goal of OpenAI remains the creation of AGI, and Altman is confident that the company already knows how to achieve it. He predicts that 2025 may be the time when AI agents begin to impact the productivity of companies across various sectors.
Altman emphasized that OpenAI is confident in its approach to creating AGI and believes that the iterative deployment of AI tools is key to achieving broad positive impact.”
Looking to the future, OpenAI is already working on superintelligence—systems that vastly exceed human capabilities. Altman refers to this as the next major stage in the development of artificial intelligence, one that could accelerate scientific discoveries and increase the well-being of humanity.
"Superintelligence can do much more than we are capable of right now," Altman writes. "It may seem like science fiction, but we are confident that in the coming years, everyone will see what we see."
Altman emphasized that OpenAI is not a traditional company and cannot operate by conventional rules.
"We believe that the best way to ensure the safety of AI systems is to gradually release them into the world, giving society time to adapt and co-evolve with the technologies," said Altman.