Sam Altman hasn’t always been a fan of Burning Man. There was a time when the OpenAI CEO wanted nothing to do with whatever went down in Black Rock City.
“That is a ridiculous, escapism, crazy party,” Altman said about his previous views on Burning Man on the “Life in Seven Songs” podcast in 2024.
Then, he saw what all of the hype was about. Altman said on the podcast that he’d been to Burning Man five or six times.
“All these lights. All this incredible art. People just biking around,” Altman said on the podcast. “Everyone so happy, so engaged, so present that I was like, ‘OK, I was wrong to be so negative on Burning Man.'”
He said the experience showed him what the world could look like when artificial general intelligence — AI capable of matching or surpassing human intelligence — is achieved.
“This is one possible, like, part of what the post-AGI world can look like,” Altman said on the podcast. “Where people are just focused on doing stuff for each other, caring for each other, and making incredible gifts to give each other.”
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