OpenAI aims to deliver truly universal artificial intelligence to as many people as possible to decentralize power, according to CEO Sam Altman.
Our Principles:
— Sam Altman (@sama) April 26, 2026
Democratization, Empowerment, Universal Prosperity, Resilience, and Adaptabilityhttps://t.co/g58WGndARw
He stated that AI has the potential to significantly enhance many aspects of society. This technology will expand human capabilities and freedoms more than steam engines or electricity ever did.
“We envision a world where prosperity reaches levels that are currently hard to imagine. In this world, individual potential, freedom, and self-actualization will greatly increase,” he said.
While many science fiction scenarios may become reality, Altman emphasized that such outcomes are not guaranteed. In the future, power could be concentrated in the hands of a few companies controlling superintelligence.
“Our mission is to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity,” the entrepreneur noted.
He outlined the principles guiding OpenAI.
Democratization
The company will resist any tendency for technology to concentrate power among the elite.
“This means that in addition to providing everyone access to AI, we must ensure that key decisions regarding the technology are made through democratic processes and based on principles of equality, not just in neural network labs,” Altman stated.
Empowerment
The developer of ChatGPT believes that AI can empower everyone to achieve their goals, learn more, be happier, feel more fulfilled, and pursue their dreams, with the community as a whole benefiting from technological advancements.
“To achieve this goal, we must enable people to explore vast potentials and create the products they need,” the OpenAI head said.
He added that the company is responsible for minimizing the negative aspects of AI integration, which include both catastrophic and minimal harm.
Universal Prosperity
The startup envisions a future where everyone can live a fulfilling life. It believes that by providing access to powerful AI systems, people will discover new ways to create value and significantly improve quality of life for all, especially in scientific discoveries.
For universal prosperity, it is essential that:
- governments explore new economic models to enable everyone to participate in value creation;
- new vast AI infrastructure is developed, along with technologies to reduce construction costs.
Resilience
AI will introduce new risks, and OpenAI is prepared to collaborate with other companies, ecosystems, governments, and society to mitigate them.
“No lab can ensure a prosperous future alone,” Altman stated.
He cited the potential emergence of extremely powerful models that could simplify the creation of new pathogens, necessitating proactive measures from humanity.
Another example is the growing capabilities of neural networks in cybersecurity, which require the use of AI to secure open-source software and critical infrastructure.
“Society must cope with each subsequent level of AI capabilities, understand it, integrate it, and together find the best way forward. This cannot be done in a vacuum,” Altman noted.
Adaptability
According to OpenAI, the only way to tackle the challenges of an unpredictable future is to be ready to adjust positions as new information emerges.
“We recognize that the company plays a much more significant role in the world today than it did a few years ago, and we intend to communicate changes in our principles openly,” the firm’s head stated.
He added that OpenAI is willing to sacrifice some empowerment for greater resilience.
It is worth noting that New Yorker journalists conducted a comprehensive year-and-a-half investigation into Sam Altman's activities and concluded that he often misled as CEO of OpenAI.