The OpenAI CEO says generative AI is a once-in-a-generation 'platform shift,' and entrepreneurs need to get on board.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has a simple message for entrepreneurs when it comes to artificial intelligence: Now is the time. During an onstage conversation with Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott at the company's 2024 Build conference, an event for developers, engineers, and entrepreneurs, Altman said that right now is probably the most exciting time to be building a startup since either the rise of mobile computing or the dawn of the internet, referring to such moments as "platform shifts." These platform shifts present huge opportunities to "build something new and change the landscape ... and this looks like it's really, truly a platform shift," Altman said, referring to the transformative power of generative AI. Since platform shifts like the ones Altman was describing don't come around very often, he said his biggest piece of advice to entrepreneurs is to take advantage of the moment. "This is not the time to delay what you were planning to do or wait for the next thing," he said. "This is a special moment." Altman's second piece of advice was to not get sucked into the belief that simply integrating AI will be enough to make your company a success. New technology like genAI, he says, "doesn't get you out of the hard work of building a great product, or a great company, or a great service." AI alone will be a great enabler to help businesses get to that next level, he said, "but it does not automatically break the rules of business." At the end of the day, you still have to figure out how to build enduring value for your company, which Altman said is easy to lose sight of in the excitement of the gold rush. Speaking of "breaking the rules of business," Altman, whom Scott referred to as "one of the busiest people on the planet," said he'd been having a "wild week," likely referring to OpenAI's demo of its next-generation voice mode, and the resulting backlash from actress Scarlett Johansson, who threatened legal action against the company over similarities between her voice and one of OpenAI's digital voices. It may have also referred to his public apology on Saturday, after Vox reported that departing OpenAI employees were forced to either sign an NDA or risk forfeiting their vested equity in the company.