OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that a four‑year higher education is excessive for the modern world. According to him, two years of study at Stanford University were enough for him personally, and for many others, this period may also turn out to be optimal. The statement was made during Altman’s surprise appearance at Internapalooza, a networking event for tech industry interns. When asked about the reasons for leaving the university without a degree, the head of OpenAI noted that after a certain stage, the return on investment in studying drops sharply. At the same time, he acknowledged that the university has value beyond academic studies, providing opportunities for useful connections, independent living, and collaborative work on ideas. Altman left Stanford in 2005 after two years of study and became a co‑founder of the mobile service Loopt, which was among the first participants in the well‑known accelerator Y Combinator.

The situation appears paradoxical, since the person who largely set off the current wave of artificial intelligence development is explaining to a group of interns that four years of college are not mandatory, while summer internships are precisely among the areas that are shrinking under the pressure of automation. Routine tasks for newcomers are increasingly being delegated to neural networks. The number of technology internships has fallen by thirty percent since 2023, and the share of recent graduates among new employees at major technology companies has dropped to seven percent. This is compounded by tens of thousands of job cuts: some positions are directly automated, while others are eliminated to save costs amid corporations’ multibillion‑dollar investments in AI infrastructure..

Altman advised aspiring entrepreneurs not to waste energy trying to look respectable in the eyes of others. In his view, modern tools make it possible to launch a business on one’s own, and this is now much more feasible than ever before. He noted that one can create an entire startup on one’s own, provided they have access to AI computing power. According to Altman, the exception is corporate sales to conservative clients, where it makes sense to hire older people in order to be taken seriously. Other prominent figures in the industry hold a similar position regarding diplomas. Google co‑founder Sergey Brin previously said that the corporation has hired many specialists without a bachelor’s degree, and the diploma is gradually losing its weight in employment in Silicon Valley.