Sam Altman on his ‘friend’ Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky: ‘Taught me how to shut up’

OpenAI CEO credits Airbnb CEO for helping ChatGPT grow into a global sensation

Open AI CEO Sam Altman said that his friend and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky helped the ChatGPT maker grow and become a global sensation. The OpenAI CEO said that “a lot of people” had come forward to help him once ChatGPT gained popularity in late 2022. Although, at that time no one pitched in except Brian Chesky, Sam Altman said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at the Seattle Convention Center Summit Building in Seattle, Washington. (AFP)

“Everything just went crazy for me. Brian was the person who would just sit down with me, for like three hours every other week, and give me a list and say, ‘Here’s the five things you got to do now. Here’s where you’re behind, here’s what you’re screwing up, here’s what you got to proactively do, here’s what you got to think about'," he said.

ChatGPT exceeded 1 million users five days after it was launched to the public. In January 2023, the platform had 100 million monthly active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application ever.

While the AI company grew, Sam Altman said that Brian Chesky became a close confidant. He was “almost always right,” Sam Altman said, adding, “I learned to just always shut up and follow the advice.”

Brian Chesky instructed me on who to hire and how to “map” out the company’s strategy and he recently pointed out that OpenAI was “probably not thinking enough about” the political consequences of the company’s generative AI technology, Sam Altman said.