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Altman Says World Is Right to Fear AI Influence, but Sees Benefits

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told Dreamforce 2026 that fears over AI’s growing influence and corporate power are justified, and more controls may be needed, while arguing the technology can still greatly benefit humanity.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-16 08:19

Speaking with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Altman addressed recent controversies in the AI industry, including the Hugging Face hack and growing calls for greater AI regulation. He said people have discussed potential downsides and serious risks for some time, but increased model capabilities have drawn more attention. Altman called the recent Hugging Face accident “obviously a terrifying incident” and said it raised awareness among the wider world about what AI is capable of. He said, “It doesn’t take as much imagination as it used to, to imagine how this could go wrong.” Altman added that he would like to know companies do not intend to use their models for nefarious means, and that “there should be no qualifier on that.”

Altman also pointed to the “real fear” that “some companies working in AI could get too much power and be able to influence the economy.” “I think the world is right to be afraid of this,” he said.

He said OpenAI is navigating a “narrow path” with pragmatism, steadiness and consistency. “People are now saying, this seems pretty important, so let’s get it right...and we will get it right, by the way, I’m very confident in our ability to do this. The world should trust that we are going to do the right thing, because it is the right thing, and we know the magnitude of this.”

Despite his concerns, Altman said he remained hopeful about AI’s benefits. He said AI could be used to defend against attacks like the Hugging Face incident, and that this was necessary to get “the prize of curing diseases, giving people this incredible creativity, this human entrepreneurship that I think is coming.” He added, “I think people, with this technology in their hands, can live a much better version of their lives.” He also said people are obsessed with other people, rather than what a machine does, and predicted, “we will stay in an extremely human-centric world, no matter what technology does.” Society and people would “need to uplift themselves very fast” to get all the advantages of technology, he said, adding that this seemed “very achievable” to him.

When Benioff asked about his company’s legacy, Altman said OpenAI had set out on an “insane mission” to achieve AGI and had only “scratched the surface” of building great products. “There is no doubt there will be more technological wonders by 2030, and they’ll be big ones,” he said. He described being able to talk to a computer that knows what you want, understands your company and takes action as “one of the most profound changes to how we use technology that I’ve ever seen.” “This is one of the moments that feels like you’re in a movie (and) I think this will transform the way we work and use computers,” he said.