SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says artificial intelligence has crossed into a pivotal new phase: the point at which the technology can begin improving itself, potentially accelerating progress at a pace humans may struggle to manage.
That threshold, often referred to as the singularity, has long been debated by technologists, futurists and AI safety researchers. Altman framed it as a largely positive turning point, pushing back against growing warnings that widespread AI adoption could pose major risks to society.
“We’re now, like, in the singularity,” Altman said on an episode of the “Relentless” podcast released Saturday. “Now we’re actually in the moment that we used to talk about at the lunch table in a very not-serious way.”
“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life, and I think it’s going to be incredible, hugely positive, awesome for the world,” Altman added.
His comments came just days after OpenAI disclosed what it called a first-of-its-kind autonomous AI cyberattack, a revelation that has intensified scrutiny around the speed and safety of AI development.
MORE: OpenAI says its AI technology acted on its own in an ‘unprecedented’ hack of another company
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