Altman: OpenAI took four and a half years to launch first product
Sam Altman · Sam Altman on Building OpenAI & Betting on the Impossible · Aug 23, 2026 · at 1:09:55
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discusses how running OpenAI differed from standard startup advice, requiring years of pure research before releasing any product.
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“The thing that was really different about OpenAI than anything that I had pattern matching before is it was four and a half years from when we started the company to when we launched our first product.”
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