OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman thinks your child will never be smarter than Why is that a good thing?

In a world rapidly embracing artificial intelligence, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is already preparing his newborn son for a future shaped by it. On the inaugural episode of the OpenAI Podcast, Altman—who became a father earlier this year—offered a rare glimpse into how he views parenting in the age of powerful machines. For him, the goal isn’t to raise children smarter than AI, but to raise children enabled by it.

He believes his kids “will never be smarter than AI” and the next generation will grow up vastly more capable than the ones before, not despite AI, but because of it. He further added that he does not think the next generation will be even bothered that they are not smarter than AI.

Sam Altman about using GPT for parenting
He shared that during the early days of parenting, he leaned on ChatGPT to understand even the basics of childcare. “I don’t know how I would’ve done that without it,” he admitted on the podcast.

Yet Altman doesn’t gloss over the challenges. He acknowledged the darker side of hyper-intelligent tools—from over-reliance to emotionally complicated relationships with AI—and emphasised the need for society to build guardrails as quickly as the technology evolves. But overall, he remains deeply optimistic. As AI becomes more integrated into everyday life, Altman’s outlook is clear: the real power lies not in outsmarting machines, but in learning to thrive alongside them.


Future of ChatGPT?
Looking ahead, Sam Altman envisions a dramatic transformation for ChatGPT over the next five years. While the brand name might endure, he believes the tool itself will become “a totally different thing”—far more advanced and capable than today’s iteration.

However, Altman’s real excitement lies beyond conversational AI. For him, the true breakthrough will come when artificial intelligence reaches the level of super-intelligence—one that can independently drive scientific discovery. A system that could accelerate research or solve complex problems autonomously, he said, would mark a monumental leap forward for humanity and technology alike.