Altman admits TikTok addiction while studying Sora app

In a recent episode of the podcast 'How to Start a Startup', Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, discussed his experiences developing the Sora app, which led him to download TikTok to understand its addictive design. Initially he thought he could control his usage, but one night he spent an hour, and another Saturday afternoon three hours, scrolling. Realizing the addiction, he deleted TikTok and turned off phone notifications to protect his attention. The interview delved into his startup methodology, including how he distinguishes real trends from fads, his approach to hiring executives, and his product design philosophy. He mentioned that after progress in coding agents, OpenAI decided to stop projects like Sora and browser, which were previously promising, to focus resources on more critical directions. He also reflected on his early hesitation to scale compute investment, which he now regrets, and his belief that AI will continue to grow exponentially, advising startups to aim higher. Altman emphasized the importance of relying on experts, learning from them, and not being afraid to ask for help.