What OpenAI’s Sam Altman thinks of AI disaster scenarios

VPM | By Manoush Zomorodi, Katie Monteleone, James Delahoussaye and Sanaz Meshkinpour

Published December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM EST

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Who is really shaping the future of AI?

AI has sparked big questions around safety and ethics. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shares his vision for AI’s future and why he thinks the rewards outweigh the risks, live onstage with TED’s Chris Anderson.

About Sam Altman

Sam Altman is the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, DALL·E, Sora and o1. Prior to OpenAI, Altman was president of the startup accelerator Y Combinator. At 19, Altman dropped out of Stanford University and founded a social networking service called Loopt.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and James Delahoussaye and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

Web Resources

Related TED Bio: Sam Altman

Related TED Talk: 12 predictions for the future of technology

Related TED Talk: Get ready for hybrid thinking

Related NPR Links

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Consider This: Bubbling questions about the limits of the AI revolution

TED Radio Hour: What one founder’s past says about AI’s future

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Manoush Zomorodi

Manoush Zomorodi is the host of TED Radio Hour. She is a journalist, podcaster and media entrepreneur, and her work reflects her passion for investigating how technology and business are transforming humanity.

Zomorodi is a co-founder of Stable Genius Productions and is the co-host and co-creator of ZigZag, the business podcast about being human. She also created, hosted, and was managing editor of the podcast Note to Self in partnership with WNYC Studios, which was named Best Tech Podcast of 2017 by The Academy of Podcasters.

Prior to her time at WNYC, Zomorodi reported and produced around the world for BBC News and Thomson Reuters, including a few years in Berlin.

She was named one of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business for 2018 and has received numerous awards for her work, including The Gracie for Best Radio Host in 2014 and 2018. Her book "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Creative Self" (2017, St. Martin's Press) and her TED Talk are guides to surviving information overload and the "Attention Economy."

Zomorodi received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in English and fine arts. She is half-Persian and half-Swiss but was born in New York City, where she lives with her family.

See stories by Manoush Zomorodi