Sam Altman who created ChatGPT now wants to scan your eyeballs with a glowing bowling ball to prove you’re human online, and he made a jingle about it. Seriously. I told you all about it back on May 6. Orb just dropped its first U.S. ad campaign. It’s basically the “If You’re Happy and You Know It” of human verification. It feels like a TSA PreCheck for whatever weird world we’re heading into. It already has 13 million verified humans across 20+ countries, with goals to hit 50 million by the end of 2025. Not me.
Sam Altman is building the future and planning for the end
Let’s talk about Sam Altman. You’ve probably heard his name, but do you really know who he is or what he’s planning? I put this together, so next time he comes up, you’re not just in the loop, you’ve got something smart to say.
He’s 40, born in Chicago, worth well over a billion dollars and cruises around in $27 million McLaren P1s. I’ve seen one of them parked outside a restaurant in Montecito. Sam and his Aussie husband, Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in February 2025.
💰 His tech start
He dropped out of Stanford after two years to launch Loopt, a location-sharing app that sold for $43.4 million in 2005. That win put him in the right rooms. He went on to fund early rounds for companies you’ve definitely heard of: Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe. He got a piece of each.
In 2015, he cofounded OpenAI with Elon Musk. Musk bailed in 2018 after clashing over the company’s direction. Altman took the helm as CEO in 2019 and became the face of AI. That nearly unraveled in 2023, when OpenAI’s board abruptly fired him. Five days, one employee revolt and a full-blown tech soap opera later, he was back and the board was out.
He once said a psychedelic retreat in Mexico cured his anxiety.
🤖 AI takes the lead
Altman has made one thing very clear. AI will surpass human intelligence soon. Not in 100 years. Not 50. He says it could happen within a few years.
In his words: “I think the median user will start to experience AGI-level capabilities in five years.” When he testified before Congress in 2023, he warned that “AI could cause significant harm to the world” if we don’t act fast.
He’s talking about superintelligence. Machines that don’t just match us, but outperform us in every way. Solving scientific mysteries. Curing diseases. Writing symphonies. No burnout, no sleep, no moral compass.
But intelligence isn’t wisdom. These systems don’t feel anything. No love, no fear, no empathy. And without that? They don’t know when to stop.
🪪 Give me your eyeballs
The next iPhone? Nope. This one has no screen, no apps, no keyboard
ChatGPT
I always want you to be tech ahead. That’s why I want you to think about what if your next device didn’t have a screen? Or apps? Or a keyboard?
That’s exactly why Sam Altman (OpenAI’s CEO) and Jony Ive (the former Apple design genius behind the iPhone) are working on a new kind of AI gadget that could completely change the way we interact with technology.
The illusion of intelligence
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claims AI has already surpassed human intelligence. Is he missing the bigger picture?
Your AI confidant isn’t confidential: Thought your sob session with ChatGPT was sealed tight? LOL. CEO Sam Altman just confirmed that all your convos, with juicy, emotionally messy details, could end up in court. Yes, even the stuff you deleted. Unlike therapists, AI bots don’t get client privilege. Good to know.
$49 million
The price tag on Sam Altman’s Hawaiian hideaway. The OpenAI CEO just listed his 21.8-acre Kailua estate for nearly $6 million more than he paid in 2021. Ten bedrooms, a private marina, helicopter pad, theater, staff quarters and sweeping Pacific views. Not really a house, but more like a billionaire’s personal resort.
Elon Musk and Sam Altman are fighting like kids on the playground
By The Royal Society, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=152333860; By TechCrunch - TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 - Day 2, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=127902290
It feels like forever ago. The first time I tried ChatGPT, I knew it would change everything. Back in 2022, images of people had seven fingers and every other thing a chatbot spit out was nonsense. I asked Google’s Gemini for a Bible verse and it told me no because the Bible was a copyrighted work. Yikes.
1/15 teaspoon
That’s how much water your average ChatGPT question supposedly guzzles to answer you. According to Sam Altman, One query = a light sip. But multiply that by billions, and suddenly the servers need a Hydro Flask the size of Lake Michigan.
Around 70%
Of people are polite to AI. The kicker? All those “pleases” and “thank yous” are adding up and costing OpenAI tens of millions of dollars in electricity. CEO Sam Altman doesn’t think it’s a bad thing, though. Why? Just in case there’s an AI uprising someday. Plus, being nice can get you better responses.