Sam Altman Predicts ChatGPT Will Soon Have More Conversations Than All Humans Combined

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has made a bold prediction that could redefine the boundaries of human communication. Speaking at a dinner event with journalists in San Francisco, Altman claimed that ChatGPT may soon engage in more daily conversations than all human interactions combined, underscoring the platform’s rapid global adoption and the shifting dynamics of AI in daily life.

“If you project our growth forward, pretty soon billions of people a day will be talking to ChatGPT,” Altman said, as reported by Wired. “ChatGPT will be having more conversations, maybe, than all human words put together, at some point. I think it's unreasonable to expect a single model personality or style to work for all of that.”

His remarks come at a pivotal moment for OpenAI, which recently rolled out its much-anticipated GPT-5 model. While the update brought significant advancements, it also sparked mixed reactions. Many users felt the new version appeared “colder” and less personable than GPT-4o, prompting OpenAI to temporarily restore access to the older model after public backlash. Altman admitted the company “misjudged how people would feel about the change in tone” and promised greater customization options to reflect the diverse ways people interact with AI.

“There will have to be a very different kind of product offering to accommodate the extremely wide diversity of use cases and people,” Altman noted, hinting at a future where AI assistants might adapt uniquely to each user’s preferences and communication style.

Since its debut in late 2022, ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer tech product in history, transforming how individuals and organizations communicate, create, and problem-solve. Despite debates about AI ethics, misinformation, and job automation, Altman remains optimistic. He compared the current AI boom to the internet bubble of the 1990s, acknowledging that “for sure” there’s a bubble, but emphasizing that it’s built around a “kernel of truth.”

“When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” he explained, reaffirming that transformative technology often emerges from such intense cycles of innovation and hype.

OpenAI’s ambitions, however, go well beyond conversational AI. Altman revealed the company expects to invest trillions of dollars in data centers in the near future to support its drive toward artificial general intelligence (AGI) — the long-sought goal of machines that can think and learn like humans. “And you should expect a bunch of economists to wring their hands and be like, ‘Oh, this is so crazy, it's so reckless’ ... And we'll just be like, ‘You know what? Let us do our thing,’” he said with a hint of humor.

Currently valued at around $300 billion, OpenAI has reportedly raised $40 billion to accelerate its mission and may soon reach a staggering $500 billion valuation through an upcoming stock sale.

Altman concluded with a realistic yet hopeful outlook: “Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money, we don't know who, and a lot of people are going to make a phenomenal amount of money. And my personal belief, although I may turn out to be wrong, is that on the whole, this will be a huge net win for the economy.”

If his forecast holds true, ChatGPT might not just talk to the world — it could soon be talking for it.