Sam Altman, the CEO is making bold statements about the next generation of AI.

During a recent panel at TU Berlin, Altman challenged the audience with a simple but powerful question:

How many of you think you’ll still be smarter than GPT-5?

His answer? He doesn’t think he will be.

Rather than expressing concern, Altman sees this as a milestone for progress. The idea is that as AI systems become more advanced, they won’t just replace human intelligence but expand it—unlocking breakthroughs in science, research, and problem-solving at an unprecedented scale.

So, what does this mean? Let’s break it down.

What we know so far

Altman has hinted at OpenAI’s long-term strategy: merging different AI architectures to create a more robust and capable system.

The company’s new “o-series” models, which have already demonstrated impressive reasoning capabilities, could eventually integrate with the GPT models, bringing us closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI).

For businesses, this means AI will soon be more than just a tool—it will be a thinking partner capable of tackling complex challenges in ways that were previously impossible.

Costs are dropping

One of Altman’s biggest insights is that AI costs are plummeting. In just one year, the cost of running GPT-4 dropped by a factor of 150. If this trend continues, the cost of AI operations could soon approach near-zero, making powerful AI accessible to everyone, from startups to global enterprises.

The takeaway? If you’ve been holding off on AI adoption due to cost concerns, that reason is quickly disappearing.

Yeees - and AI coworkers will become Mainstream.

Altman believes that within the next decade, AI-powered virtual coworkers will become mainstream.

OpenAI is already working on AI agents that can perform the tasks of junior software engineers with human oversight. Now imagine having a workforce of AI assistants working 24/7 to support your business, handling tasks that currently take days in just minutes.

For industries reliant on knowledge work—marketing, sales, finance, legal, and customer service—this could be a game-changer.

What the world will look like in 2035?

Altman predicts a future where AI reshapes global economics in three key ways:

• Most goods and services will become significantly cheaper.

• Scientific progress will accelerate as AI tackles complex research problems.

• High-value assets like land and luxury goods may become more expensive.

Perhaps Altman’s most radical vision is the idea that, by 2035, everyone should have access to “unlimited intelligence”—either through a universal compute budget or by making AI so affordable that cost is no longer a barrier.

This would mean that any business, no matter how small, could leverage AI with the same level of intelligence as the largest corporations.

Sam Altman’s vision for AI is ambitious, but the trajectory is clear: AI is becoming smarter, cheaper, and more capable at an astonishing rate. Businesses that embrace AI now will be the ones leading in the next decade.

So, are you ready to future-proof your business?

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