'Genie That Can Grant Any Wish': Sam Altman Says Next-Gen AI Could Solve Humanity's Toughest Challenges

Published 26 July 2026 · tech

'Genie That Can Grant Any Wish': Sam Altman Says Next-Gen AI Could Solve Humanity's Toughest Challenges Published By, Last Updated: July 26, 2026, 16:17 IST

'Genie That Can Grant Any Wish': Sam Altman Says Next-Gen AI Could Solve Humanity's Toughest Challenges Published By, Last Updated: July 26, 2026, 16:17 IST OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company is close to building AI assistants that could accelerate scientific discovery and tackle humanity's toughest challenges. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the company is nearing a new era of AI assistants capable of tackling humanity's toughest scientific and engineering challenges, likening the technology's future potential to "a genie that can grant any wish." (IMAGE: REUTERS) OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman believes artificial intelligence (AI) is approaching a transformative moment, comparing its future capabilities to “a genie that can grant any wish." Speaking on the Relentless podcast, Altman said OpenAI is getting close to building powerful AI assistants capable of tackling some of humanity’s most difficult challenges, while stressing that people would still decide what problems such systems should solve.

Altman said OpenAI is focused not only on building increasingly capable AI systems but also on ensuring they are deployed responsibly and benefit society as a whole. “We are close to creating the genie that can grant any wish. We are going to make sure that our first wish is to broadly benefit humanity and get the world to a place where a lot more people get to have a lot more wishes. The space of what you can wish for is incredibly big and creative, and it’ll be quite exciting to figure that out with real human values and preferences," Altman told podcast host Ti Morse. He added that the rapid progress of AI could fundamentally change how people approach difficult problems. “You start making these wishes, the computer grants them, and then you’re like, ‘I didn’t think that was going to work.

What now?’ It’s a weird feeling," he said. According to Altman, future AI systems will go far beyond answering questions or generating text, with the ability to conduct research autonomously, analyse massive datasets and help scientists and engineers make breakthroughs at a much faster pace. My first interview with @sama, Co-Founder of @OpenAI.0:04 How to start a startup3:30 Trusting exponentials4:57 Operating in chaotic environments6:12 Learning to enjoy painful experiences8:03 Creating abundant intelligence11:15 Keeping core suppliers on OpenAI’s timelines… pic.twitter.com/vPnmWfPwVe — Ti Morse (@ti_morse) July 25, 2026 Altman has long argued that one of the defining milestones for artificial intelligence will be its ability to accelerate scientific discovery. He believes advanced AI systems will eventually help researchers solve complex problems far faster than humans can on their own, from designing better semiconductor chips to speeding up drug discovery and other scientific breakthroughs.