Sam Altman says he is happy he rejected Goldman Sachs job offer

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, expressed satisfaction with his decision to decline a Goldman Sachs internship during his college years. While accepting such an opportunity was challenging at the time, Altman believes that students today have an easier path due to advancements in artificial intelligence. At the Internapalooza Conference, Altman recounted that working at Goldman Sachs was the most coveted career path during his sophomore year.

He admitted that peer pressure played a role in his initial enthusiasm for the offer, leading him to apply and ultimately accept it. However, he later decided against taking up the internship. Instead, Altman pursued his startup, Loopt, before joining Y Combinator's first batch of startups. He later became the president of Y Combinator and co-founded OpenAI.

Reflecting on his experience, Altman stated that working at Goldman Sachs now would sound "unbelievably terrible." He further noted that many corporate careers lack the creativity and freedom to build new products, which startups offer in abundance. Altman emphasized that the ease of starting a company independently, even with limited resources, has significantly increased due to AI, making it much simpler for students to turn down prestigious internships.