Sam Altman
Sam Altman is OpenAI's CEO. He entered Y Combinator's first startup batch in 2005 and became its president in 2014. In 2015, he helped establish OpenAI with a group of founders and researchers. His later leadership included the laboratory's move to a capped-profit structure and the public release of ChatGPT, a product built by its teams. OpenAI's board removed him in November 2023, then announced his return with a new initial board. OpenAI Foundation now controls OpenAI Group, a public benefit corporation. His career connects startup support, research funding, product development, and decisions about how an AI company is governed.
- Now at
- OpenAI
Timeline
-
2005
A founder enters the first YC batch
Altman is one of the founders in Y Combinator’s first startup batch.
-
2015
Helping establish OpenAI
OpenAI launches with Altman and Elon Musk as co-chairs, alongside researchers and engineers including Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman and John Schulman.
-
2022
ChatGPT reaches the public
OpenAI releases ChatGPT as a research preview.
-
November 2023
A return with a new board
OpenAI announces Altman’s return as CEO and a new initial board chaired by Bret Taylor.
-
2025–today
A new corporate form
In October 2025, OpenAI recapitalized: the Foundation controls the Group public benefit corporation.
Sources and credits
Photo: 首相官邸ホームページ / Office of the Prime Minister of Japan Official Website. License: CC BY 4.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.
_(3x4_cropped_on_Altman).jpg){kind=link}
- Y Combinator: Sam Altman for President, 21 February 2014
- OpenAI: founding announcement, 11 December 2015
- OpenAI LP, 11 March 2019
- OpenAI: Introducing ChatGPT, 30 November 2022
- OpenAI: leadership transition, 17 November 2023
- OpenAI: Altman returns, 29 November 2023
- OpenAI: Our structure, current page