These are the 5 most surprising takeaways from Sam Altman at OpenAI's big developer conference
At DevDay 2026, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman weighed in on the job market and called tokens a "terrible" metric. He also shared how he uses the Dots agents.
TL;DR
- Altman believes AI's purpose should be to empower people, not just to accelerate economic growth, comparing its potential impact to the Renaissance rather than the Industrial Revolution.
- He described tokens, the basic unit for AI input/output and pricing, as a "terrible metric" because they do not accurately reflect the value of a task across different AI models.
- Altman shared that OpenAI's new personal AI agent, Dots, helps him regain attention by managing tasks and notifications, reducing his smartphone addiction.
- Regarding AI safety, Altman advocated for a centrist path, where safety progresses alongside capabilities, warning against both rapid advancement without safety and a complete halt in development.
- He advised new graduates that it is the "best time" to enter the job market, arguing that predictions of widespread job loss underestimate economic growth.