Sam Altman Says Turning Down Goldman Sachs Internship Was A Difficult Call For Him; Claims Students Today Have Many Choices

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that he found turning down an internship at Goldman Sachs during his college days a challenging decision. Speaking at the Internapalooza Conference, Altman explained that while the choice felt daunting back then, students today have a simpler route to decline such opportunities due to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).

Altman recalled the sophomore year of his college when a career at Goldman Sachs was considered the most coveted path for students. He admitted being pressured into applying by his peers and was initially pleased when he secured the internship. However, he ultimately decided against it due to the rigid hierarchical nature of investment banking, which left little room for building something new.

Reflecting on his present perspective, Altman found the prospect of working at Goldman Sachs today utterly unappealing. He argued that startups provide far more freedom for those who wish to create products instead of climbing the corporate ladder. Altman emphasized that AI has made it remarkably easier for students to reject prestigious internship offers, as they can now build entire companies independently with the assistance of AI tools, without requiring external validation to be taken seriously.

He concluded by stating that young people can now make significant progress in their careers by simply building things on their own.