Sam Altman , co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, joined a high-profile panel discussion at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin) to discuss the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on science, business and society. The event, hosted by OpenAI, TU Berlin and the Berlin Institute for the Foundations of Learning and Data (BIFOLD) , also brought together Professor Dr. Fatma Deniz, Professor Dr. Volker Markl and Nicole Büttner .
Sam Altmann and the future of AI, TU Berlin - The most important points summarized
Under the main theme of "The Age of AI," the panel discussed key challenges and opportunities associated with the development of AI and emphasized how students, scientists, and policymakers must adapt to this rapid change. In addition to the enormous potential of AI, the panel also examined the associated risks and highlighted the necessary framework conditions and ethical considerations to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits society as a whole.
We transcribed the video recording and then summarized Sam Altmann's statements. The complete video recording can be found at the end of this page. The method is part of our approach to comment analysis .
Sam Altmann: AI is on the threshold of groundbreaking discoveries
Professor Dr. Fatma Deniz moderated the panel and asked the questions.
Sam Altman's key statements
"I think we're within a couple of years now of a major discovery being done by AI autonomously."
AI as a catalyst for science - AI can revolutionize research by taking over repetitive tasks and allowing scientists to work at higher levels of abstraction.
"I don't think I'm going to be smarter than GPT5 and I don't feel sad about it because I think it just means that we'll be able to use it to do incredible things."
AGI is coming – but what counts is the benefit - The definition of AGI is less important than the question of how AI actually helps people.
" think the world doesn't want us to stop at GPT5 or GPT6, but would like to see that keep going. And I think Stargate will enable us to stay on a the same curve of improvement we've been on for the last few years."
Stargate & computing power as the key to the future OpenAI is investing heavily in computing power to continue development and drastically reduce usage costs.
"Germany is an incredible market for us. It's the biggest market in Europe. It's top five globally. People are doing incredible work with the tool. I very convinced that most Europeans want AI to be used here to happen here."
"We would love to do like a Stargate Europe."
European AI Development: Opportunities & Risks - Altman stresses that Europe should use AI to remain competitive and warns against excessive regulation.
"Even if we have to use hundreds of megawatts or gigawatts on this problem, if we can use AI to discover how to do efficient fusion, cheap fusion, and then very quickly replicate the thousands of gigawatts of generating capacity that's spreading carbon around the world, that would be a huge win."
AI & energy consumption – solution or problem? AI can help accelerate sustainable solutions instead of being seen as an energy consumer.
"But programming at the beginning of 2025 and at the end of 2025 are going to be completely different things and you want to be like on the good side of that trend."
The next two years will be groundbreaking - Altman is convinced that we are currently experiencing the steepest technological development curve in history.
"I used to be a startup investor at this firm called Y Combinator and one of my biggest Takeaways from that is the degree to which people can learn this skill is much higher than I would have thought and something I think like we should teach."
Tip for students & career starters → AI is changing the world of work – adaptability, critical thinking and the ability to identify valuable problems are crucial.
takeaway
AI is on the verge of massively changing research, the economy, and society. The question is no longer whether it will do so but how we shape this change.