Sam Altman

Sam Altman is an American entrepreneur, programmer, and business executive. He is best known as the President of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator and venture capital firm that provides funding, mentorship, and resources to early-stage startups. He has been involved with Y Combinator since 2011 and was named President in 2014.

Altman first gained recognition as a co-founder and CEO of Loopt, a location-based social networking app that Green Dot Corporation acquired in 2012. After the acquisition, he joined Y Combinator as a part-time partner before becoming President.

Under Altman's leadership, Y Combinator has expanded its reach and impact, now funding and mentoring over 2,000 startups, including companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox, and Reddit. The firm has also launched additional programs, such as the Y Combinator Research division, which supports fundamental research in technology, and the Y Combinator Continuity Fund, which provides later-stage funding to startups that have graduated from the accelerator program.

Altman is also known for his philanthropy and activism. He is a vocal proponent of universal basic income. He has been involved in several initiatives to explore and promote the concept, including the launch of the Universal Basic Income project in 2016, which provided a basic income to 100 individuals in Oakland, California, for a year.

He is also a board member of OpenAI, a non-profit research company that aims to develop and promote friendly AI in a way that benefits humanity as a whole.

Altman is a recognized figure in the technology industry and has been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, The New York Times, and Inc. He has also been a guest speaker at several conferences and events, including the World Economic Forum and the SXSW Interactive Festival.