OpenAI CEO warns against AI monopoly, pushes for accessible tech

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a recent podcast that his biggest worry about AI isn't the tech itself getting too powerful, but that a single company might control it. He argued that throughout history, trading freedom for safety hasn't worked out, and urged putting AI tools into people's hands so society can use them as they see fit.

Altman's comments come as Silicon Valley and Washington debate how much the public should know about advanced AI models. OpenAI keeps its core tech closed-source. Meanwhile, Chinese company Moonshot AI released open-source model Kimi K3, prompting some U.S. officials to call for limiting public access to Chinese AI—though investors and founders warn this could hurt global competition.

Tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, and Google signed a letter asking the U.S. government not to restrict open-source AI. But Anthropic, the only major lab that didn't sign, calls for stricter safety rules as AI gets stronger. Altman said keeping AI power from being too concentrated has always been his goal, even as OpenAI sticks with a closed-source approach.