OpenAI leaders display deep ambivalence and personal anxiety about advanced AI despite the company's potential wealth. The company's CEO expresses constant fear about the technology he is unleashing on the world. A longstanding investor has been driven to behaviors peers describe as signs of psychosis. Board chair Bret Taylor fears AI chatbots like ChatGPT are redefining his relationship to technology and making the world of programming unrecognizable. Taylor notes productivity gains but warns that many people will face an uncomfortable transition as personal and professional identities are disrupted. GPT-5's release underwhelmed users, especially software engineers, and some observers view fear-based messaging as a sales tactic.
Bret Taylor, expressed his anxiety that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are redefining his relationship to technology, destroying - or at least making unrecognizable - the world of programming in which he built his career. "The thing I self-identify withis just, like, being obviated by this technology," Taylor said in the interview. "So it's like, the reason why I think these tools are being embraced so quickly is they truly are like an Iron Man suit for all of us as individuals."
Though Taylor expressed some muted optimism about AI's effects on "productivity," his attitude toward the near future was decidedly troubled. "You're going to have this period of transition where it's saying, like, 'How I've come to identify my own worth, either as a person or as an employee, has been disrupted.' That's very uncomfortable. And that transition isn't always easy," the chairman declared.
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