Sam Altman: AI Beyond Human Control “Absolutely Possible” | Titans and Disruptors

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Previously titled “Sam Altman: Safety Standards 'Not at a Place' to Push AI Capabilities Much Further | Titans and Disruptors” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 14, 2026

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Recorded12 Sep 2026

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Show notes

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sits down with Fortune's Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell to discuss the high-stakes balancing act of AI: pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery while confronting the existential risks of loss of control. In this episode, Altman addresses the reality of AI alignment, the Hugging Face incident, and OpenAI's commitment to halting training runs if safety thresholds aren't met. He also shares insights on global AI coordination between the U.S. and China, healthcare breakthroughs, and the company's timeline for an IPO. 00:00 Introducing Sam Altman 01:54 Astra, AGI claims, and P(doom) fears 03:10 Is a 10% extinction risk real? 06:03 Loss of control and OpenAI’s safety stance 09:05 Recursive self‑improvement and human oversight 12:19 Why alignment is still unsolved 14:23 Can humans control superintelligence? 16:35 From grade‑school math to Navier–Stokes 18:42 The Hugging Face sandbox escape incident 21:58 Limits of current safeguards and accident reporting 23:01 IPO timing, profit pressure, and pausing for safety 28:36 Global coordination, U.S.–China, and AI standards 35:09 P(doom) vs. the upside case for AI 41:51 The weight on Sam Altman and human motivations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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