Silicon Valley has lost its culture of innovation and hasn’t had a breakthrough for too long, Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence startup OpenAI.
In a conversation with Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment, a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, Altman Silicon Valley companies used to do some great research,” Silicon Valley companies used to do some great research, he said. Xerox PARC is a clear example. But that didn’t last very long.”
And Tangen countered, “I’m surprised to hear you say that Silicon Valley doesn’t have a culture of innovation because that’s kind of the opposite of what I think.”
To which Altman responded that Silicon Valley did have a culture of product innovation in the past, but it was clearly missing the mark when it came to groundbreaking research.
Altman also added, “I wasn’t going to say this because it sounds too arrogant. But what was the last really great tech breakthrough by a Silicon Valley company before OpenAI?”
Altman seems to think that Silicon Valley has moved away from innovation because it’s relatively easy and attractive for people to create a “very valuable company” in the shortest possible time using existing technologies like the Internet and cell phones. These existing technologies take up too much talent.”
This isn’t the first time Altman has questioned Silicon Valley’s ability to innovate. Back in 2017, when Altman was president of startup gas pedal Y Combinator, he published a 650-word blog post claiming that Silicon Valley’s politically correct culture was detrimental to startups and new ideas.
Altman isn’t the only one criticizing Silicon Valley’s ability to innovate, either. Techies from Marc Andreessen, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, to Matt Miller, a partner at Sequoia Capital, have also been critical of Silicon Valley’s approach to innovation.
Since its founding in 2015, Altman’s AI startup OpenAI has grown rapidly. As of April, the company’s valuation had grown to between $27 billion and $29 billion.
Although Altman was a co-founder of OpenAI, he didn’t join the company full-time as CEO until 2019, three years after ChatGPT burst onto the scene.
In addition to running OpenAI, Altman co-developed the digital cryptocurrency WorldCoin and is a major investor in biotech startup Retro Biosciences.
