Samuel Harris Altman, born on April 22, 1985, is an influential American technology entrepreneur, investor, and the chief executive officer of OpenAI. Widely recognized as a central figure in the modern artificial intelligence industry, Altman has played a transformative role in the development and popularization of large-scale generative AI models. Altman was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother, Connie Gibstine, is a dermatologist, and his father, Jerry Altman, was a real estate broker. The eldest of four siblings, Altman showed an early aptitude for technology; he began coding and disassembling hardware as a child after receiving his first Apple Macintosh at age eight. He attended the John Burroughs School, a private preparatory institution in Ladue, Missouri, where he was notable for his advocacy for LGBTQ+ students, having come out as gay during his teenage years. In 2003, Altman enrolled at Stanford University to study computer science. However, in 2005, he withdrew without earning a bachelor's degree to focus on entrepreneurship. That same year, he co-founded Loopt, a location-based mobile social networking service. Loopt was among the first companies funded by the startup accelerator Y Combinator. The company was eventually acquired by the Green Dot Corporation in 2012 for approximately $43 million. Following the sale of Loopt, Altman co-founded the venture capital firm Hydrazine Capital with his brother, Jack Altman. In 2011, Altman joined Y Combinator as a partner and subsequently became its president in 2014, a position he held until 2019. Under his leadership, Y Combinator expanded significantly, cementing its reputation as one of the world's premier startup accelerators by fostering companies such as Airbnb, DoorDash, Reddit, and Twitch. During this period, Altman also served a brief stint as the interim CEO of Reddit in 2014. In 2015, Altman co-founded OpenAI, a research organization initially established as a non-profit, with the stated mission of ensuring that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. In 2019, he stepped down from his role at Y Combinator to focus full-time on OpenAI, overseeing its transition toward a for-profit structure to secure the capital necessary for advanced research. Under his leadership, OpenAI released the generative language model ChatGPT in November 2022, a milestone that significantly accelerated global interest in artificial intelligence. In November 2023, Altman was abruptly ousted by the OpenAI board of directors, who cited a lack of "consistently candid" communication. The decision triggered immediate backlash from employees, investors, and the technology industry, with hundreds of employees threatening to resign in protest. Following five days of intense public and corporate pressure, which included an offer of employment from Microsoft, the board reversed its decision. Altman was reinstated as CEO, and the board of directors was subsequently restructured. Altman is known for his advocacy regarding the potential of AGI and the associated societal risks. In 2024, he married software engineer Oliver Mulherin. He has been widely recognized for his influence, including being named among the "Architects of AI" in 2025. Today, he remains a prominent voice in the tech sector, navigating the intersection of rapid AI advancement, corporate governance, and ethical responsibility.