From Power to Parenthood, Tech Addiction and AI Acceleration, Segall Interviews Altman About AI’s Human Toll and The Weight Of His and OpenAI’s Influence

Listen to the Full Conversation on iHeartPodcasts’ “Mostly Human With Laurie Segall” HERE and Watch It on Mostly Human Media YouTube Channel HERE

Conversation Highlights Include:

• On OpenAI’s Deal with the Department of War, Altman tells Segall: “Are AI companies or are governments more powerful? And I think it's very important that the governments are more powerful… We have to work with government, but the intensity of the current mood of mistrust, I was miscalibrated on.”
• On Considering Integrating Sora Into ChatGPT Before Shuttering It: “It’s all about compute.” Adding, “Before the compute crunch came, we were talking about putting it into the ChatGPT app… but one thing we realized is that would have put a series of incentives on us and would've led to a bunch of decisions to win that we just didn't want to make.”
• On Parenting, Altman says: “I don't know when I would let [my son] talk to AI, but I’d rather be on the late end of what's reasonable… He'll grow up in a world where computers are smarter than him and do anything he wants, but… I wanted him to play in the dirt for now.”
• On AI Unicorns, Altman believes there’s already a one-person, billion dollar company powered fully by AI agents: “It is a legitimate single person… a massively successful company with one person.”
   

NEW YORK – April 2, 2026 – Award-winning tech journalist and Mostly Human CEO Laurie Segall today released a sit down conversation with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at his home for a wide-ranging, revealing interview unlike any he’s ever given before. For the first time, Altman discussed OpenAI’s shutdown of Sora and the Department of War deal since making headlines on both of those issues recently. During the conversation, Segall also asked Altman about the human stakes of the AI revolution and more. Segall, who has interviewed Altman many times over the past 15 years, offers a rare window into both the man himself and the human impact of the technology he’s shaping.

The interview was released today on the new iHeartPodcast, “Mostly Human with Laurie Segall,” a series that explores tech through the human lens. Audio of the full interview is available now on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere you get your podcasts. Video available on the Mostly Human Media YouTube channel.

In the interview, Altman revealed he thinks the first one-person, billion-dollar AI company already exists; warned of short-term job disruption requiring economic redesign; and shared his belief that "abundance" is the one word defining his life's work. He also describes a near-term future where automated AI researchers could compress a decade of scientific discovery into a single year, fundamentally reshaping innovation. But that idealism sits against a complex backdrop with fundamental human questions at stake. Perhaps most noteworthy, Altman and Segall debate in depth the complexities and opportunities of raising a child in a world that will be fundamentally transformed by the tech Altman has ushered in.

“Mostly Human with Laurie Segall” debuted last week with first guest Dr. Becky Kennedy, where the two moms confronted raising kids in an AI world. One intention of the podcast is to let episodes speak to each other. Segall played a clip from Dr. Becky for Sam Altman about AI’s impact on parenting, prompting Altman to discuss conversations he’s having with his own son about AI.

Mostly Human Media, Laurie Segall's creator-led media company and podcast of the same name, aims to bridge Silicon Valley power with real-world human impact, tackling AI's effect on parenting, jobs, relationships and our most fundamental human traits through immersive conversations and investigations.

The “Mostly Human with Laurie Segall” series is co-produced and distributed by iHeartPodcasts.

Click here to view/download more photos. Photo credit: Mostly Human with Laurie Segall.

Download the podcast cover art HERE. Credit: iHeartPodcasts

About Laurie Segall and Mostly Human Media:

Mostly Human Media is Laurie Segall’s creator-led media and entertainment network focused on the deeply human implications of technology. Through original reporting, intimate interviews, and investigations into the real-world impact of AI, the company aims to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and the people living with the consequences of its innovations.

Read more here.