What is Sam Altman’s net worth? A look at the ChatGPT creator’s salary as he calls US lawmakers to regulate AI

Gone are the days of asking Siri where you can buy pasta from near you or wondering how you could write an essay about the history of the Cannes Film Festival, as AI functions can serve you in more ways than one.

In fact, Tom Hanks even calmed his fans by suggesting that he could continue to star in films following his death with the help of AI.

Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm over the past few years, with the most recent months really throwing the reliability and ethical manner of the technology into question as several new AI models have entered the market including chatbot ChatGPT.

The almost human-like tech can create answers and essays very quickly but has been recently criticised for major inaccuracies.

Therefore, while it may be a good thing to have answers and work completed quickly, AI has also been hitting headlines in a negative manner as seen by the Michael Schumacher lawsuit when a German magazine artificially created an interview with the former F1 driver.

Even the chief executive and co-founder of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company in America behind ChatGPT, is calling for more intense regulation of AI by US lawmakers.

Sam Altman testified before the US Senate committee on Tuesday about the pitfalls of the new technology claiming it will have a detrimental effect on humanity including potential harm to the economy, democracy and education.

The CEO, who created OpenAI alongside Elon Musk, LinkedIn’s co-founder Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel in 2015, requested a new agency be created to audit, monitor and regulate AI models as well as suggesting it may be made easier to sue companies like his own OpenAI.

So as Sam Altman leads the protests against the expansion of AI and publicises the potential dangers, PeopleWorld takes a look at his net worth and salary from OpenAI.

What is Sam Altman's net worth?

Would you believe me that Sam Altman ultimately makes little to no money from OpenAI as he does not own an equity stake? 

The 38-year-old confirmed this while appearing in front of the US Senate when Senator Kennedy asked, “You make a lot of money, do you?” to which Sam replied, “No. I’m paid enough for health insurance and have no equity in OpenAI…I’m doing this because I love it.”

Sam Altman is missing out on a large stake regardless as OpenAI has been valued at $29 billion for its ChatGPT function and its Dall-E tool.

However, the entrepreneur and investor is in no way strapped for cash as his net worth is estimated to be $500 million, primarily drawn from his early investments in the likes of Airbnb, Pinterest and Reddit.