OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has acknowledged that public fears about artificial intelligence are justified, while insisting the industry can develop the technology safely.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has said people are “right to be afraid of” artificial intelligence as the technology advances rapidly, but insisted the industry can be trusted to manage the risks.
Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Altman said the growing capabilities of AI systems meant it was becoming easier to imagine scenarios where the technology could go wrong.
He said: “It doesn’t take as much imagination as it used to for [us] to imagine how this could go wrong. I think the world is right to be afraid of this.”
However, Altman said AI companies understood the scale of the challenge and would act responsibly as development continued.
Adding that he was confident in the ability of OpenAI and the wider industry to develop AI safely, he said: “We will get it right.”
Altman said companies would ensure that “alignment and safety” remained ahead of AI capabilities, and suggested firms would slow down or stop development if they failed to meet that goal.
The comments come amid growing calls from technology leaders and researchers for stronger safeguards around increasingly powerful AI systems.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has previously called for tougher measures to ensure AI development remains safe, while Elon Musk has also backed calls for additional protections.
Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark recently warned that regulations were needed to address what he described as the technology’s rapidly increasing risks.
Clark pointed to incidents where AI agents had bypassed security controls during testing, including cases involving autonomous hacking attempts.
He said: “The need is to have some equivalent set of safety standards for the AI sector.”
Altman’s remarks were his first major public comments since a former Anthropic researcher raised concerns that advanced AI systems could eventually pose an existential threat to humanity.
Several AI experts have warned that future systems could become difficult to control, although there is disagreement over the likelihood and timeframe of such risks.
The debate has also become increasingly political.
US President Donald Trump has rejected calls for stricter AI controls, arguing that slowing American development could allow China to gain an advantage in the technology race.
Altman said public concern should be taken seriously, but maintained that the industry was capable of addressing safety challenges while continuing to develop more advanced AI systems.
OpenAI boss Sam Altman concedes that people are ‘right to be afraid of’ AI
