Sam Altman says the world isn't ready for the 'humanoid robots moment' — and that it's not far away
Sam Altman has said that, while people worry about AI replacing white-collar jobs, something else will catch them off guard.
In a Bloomberg interview that aired Tuesday, the OpenAI CEO said that "the world isn't ready for" humanoid robots walking down the street.
"I don't think the world has really had the humanoid robots moment yet," he said.
He said people could soon be walking down the street and seeing "like seven robots that walk past you doing things or whatever. It's gonna feel very sci-fi."
And he said that moment isn't "very far away."
"I don't think that's very far away from like a visceral, like, 'Oh man, this is gonna do a lot of things that people used to do,'" he said.
He said this prospect was a marked contrast to people who have "maybe abstractly thought" of AI betting at specific tasks like programming and customer support.
In February, OpenAI signed a deal with Figure AI, a startup developing humanoid robots designed to "help in everyday life." Figure said its robot, Figure-01, is built for manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and retail jobs.
"AI is, for sure, going to change a lot of jobs, totally take some jobs away, create a bunch of new ones," Altman told Bloomberg.
He said OpenAI has "always tried to be super honest about what we think the impact may be, realizing that we'll be wrong on a lot of details."
"I think I am way too self-aware of my own limitations to sit here and try to say I can, like, tell you what's on the other side of that wormhole," he added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Barbie-maker Mattel teams up with OpenAI, eyes first AI-powered product this year
(Reuters) -Mattel has teamed up with OpenAI to develop toys and games with artificial intelligence, and expects to launch its first AI-powered product later this year, the Barbie-maker said on Thursday. The company, which also makes Hot Wheels and Uno cards, plans to "bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences with an emphasis on innovation, privacy, and safety," it said. The move comes at a time when toy manufacturers are battling muted demand backdrop as consumers rein in spending to brace for the economic fallout of U.S. President Trump's shifting trade policy. Mattel will also incorporate OpenAI's advanced AI tools like ChatGPT Enterprise into its business operations to enhance product innovation, the company said. "With OpenAI, Mattel has access to an advanced set of AIcapabilities alongside new tools to enable productivity, creativity, and company-wide transformation at scale," said OpenAI operating chief Brad Lightcap. Over the last year, Mattel has relied on producing films, TV shows and mobile games based on its products such as Hot Wheels and Barbie to offset a slowdown in its core toy business. Last month, Mattel withdrew its annual forecast and said it would raise prices on some products sold domestically in a bid to mitigate higher supply chain costs. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
AI tools collect and store data about you from all your devices – here's how to be aware of what you're revealing
Like it or not, artificial intelligence has become part of daily life. Many devices – including electric razors and toothbrushes – have become 'AI-powered,' using machine learning algorithms to track how a person uses the device, how the device is working in real time, and provide feedback. From asking questions to an AI assistant like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to monitoring a daily fitness routine with a smartwatch, many people use an AI system or tool every day. While AI tools and technologies can make life easier, they also raise important questions about data privacy. These systems often collect large amounts of data, sometimes without people even realizing their data is being collected. The information can then be used to identify personal habits and preferences, and even predict future behaviors by drawing inferences from the aggregated data. As an assistant professor of cybersecurity at West Virginia University, I study how emerging technologies and various types of AI systems manage personal data and how we can build more secure, privacy-preserving systems for the future. Generative AI software uses large amounts of training data to create new content such as text or images. Predictive AI uses data to forecast outcomes based on past behavior, such as how likely you are to hit your daily step goal, or what movies you may want to watch. Both types can be used to gather information about you. Generative AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini collect all the information users type into a chat box. Every question, response and prompt that users enter is recorded, stored and analyzed to improve the AI model. OpenAI's privacy policy informs users that 'we may use content you provide us to improve our Services, for example to train the models that power ChatGPT.' Even though OpenAI allows you to opt out of content use for model training, it still collects and retains your personal data. Although some companies promise that they anonymize this data, meaning they store it without naming the person who provided it, there is always a risk of data being reidentified. Beyond generative AI assistants, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok continuously gather data on their users to train predictive AI models. Every post, photo, video, like, share and comment, including the amount of time people spend looking at each of these, is collected as data points that are used to build digital data profiles for each person who uses the service. The profiles can be used to refine the social media platform's AI recommender systems. They can also be sold to data brokers, who sell a person's data to other companies to, for instance, help develop targeted advertisements that align with that person's interests. Many social media companies also track users across websites and applications by putting cookies and embedded tracking pixels on their computers. Cookies are small files that store information about who you are and what you clicked on while browsing a website. One of the most common uses of cookies is in digital shopping carts: When you place an item in your cart, leave the website and return later, the item will still be in your cart because the cookie stored that information. Tracking pixels are invisible images or snippets of code embedded in websites that notify companies of your activity when you visit their page. This helps them track your behavior across the internet. This is why users often see or hear advertisements that are related to their browsing and shopping habits on many of the unrelated websites they browse, and even when they are using different devices, including computers, phones and smart speakers. One study found that some websites can store over 300 tracking cookies on your computer or mobile phone. Like generative AI platforms, social media platforms offer privacy settings and opt-outs, but these give people limited control over how their personal data is aggregated and monetized. As media theorist Douglas Rushkoff argued in 2011, if the service is free, you are the product. Many tools that include AI don't require a person to take any direct action for the tool to collect data about that person. Smart devices such as home speakers, fitness trackers and watches continually gather information through biometric sensors, voice recognition and location tracking. Smart home speakers continually listen for the command to activate or 'wake up' the device. As the device is listening for this word, it picks up all the conversations happening around it, even though it does not seem to be active. Some companies claim that voice data is only stored when the wake word – what you say to wake up the device – is detected. However, people have raised concerns about accidental recordings, especially because these devices are often connected to cloud services, which allow voice data to be stored, synced and shared across multiple devices such as your phone, smart speaker and tablet. If the company allows, it's also possible for this data to be accessed by third parties, such as advertisers, data analytics firms or a law enforcement agency with a warrant. This potential for third-party access also applies to smartwatches and fitness trackers, which monitor health metrics and user activity patterns. Companies that produce wearable fitness devices are not considered 'covered entities' and so are not bound by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. This means that they are legally allowed to sell health- and location-related data collected from their users. Concerns about HIPAA data arose in 2018, when Strava, a fitness company released a global heat map of user's exercise routes. In doing so, it accidentally revealed sensitive military locations across the globe through highlighting the exercise routes of military personnel. The Trump administration has tapped Palantir, a company that specializes in using AI for data analytics, to collate and analyze data about Americans. Meanwhile, Palantir has announced a partnership with a company that runs self-checkout systems. Such partnerships can expand corporate and government reach into everyday consumer behavior. This one could be used to create detailed personal profiles on Americans by linking their consumer habits with other personal data. This raises concerns about increased surveillance and loss of anonymity. It could allow citizens to be tracked and analyzed across multiple aspects of their lives without their knowledge or consent. Some smart device companies are also rolling back privacy protections instead of strengthening them. Amazon recently announced that starting on March 28, 2025, all voice recordings from Amazon Echo devices would be sent to Amazon's cloud by default, and users will no longer have the option to turn this function off. This is different from previous settings, which allowed users to limit private data collection. Changes like these raise concerns about how much control consumers have over their own data when using smart devices. Many privacy experts consider cloud storage of voice recordings a form of data collection, especially when used to improve algorithms or build user profiles, which has implications for data privacy laws designed to protect online privacy. All of this brings up serious privacy concerns for people and governments on how AI tools collect, store, use and transmit data. The biggest concern is transparency. People don't know what data is being collected, how the data is being used, and who has access to that data. Companies tend to use complicated privacy policies filled with technical jargon to make it difficult for people to understand the terms of a service that they agree to. People also tend not to read terms of service documents. One study found that people averaged 73 seconds reading a terms of service document that had an average read time of 29-32 minutes. Data collected by AI tools may initially reside with a company that you trust, but can easily be sold and given to a company that you don't trust. AI tools, the companies in charge of them and the companies that have access to the data they collect can also be subject to cyberattacks and data breaches that can reveal sensitive personal information. These attacks can by carried out by cybercriminals who are in it for the money, or by so-called advanced persistent threats, which are typically nation/state- sponsored attackers who gain access to networks and systems and remain there undetected, collecting information and personal data to eventually cause disruption or harm. While laws and regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union and the California Consumer Privacy Act aim to safeguard user data, AI development and use have often outpaced the legislative process. The laws are still catching up on AI and data privacy. For now, you should assume any AI-powered device or platform is collecting data on your inputs, behaviors and patterns. Although AI tools collect people's data, and the way this accumulation of data affects people's data privacy is concerning, the tools can also be useful. AI-powered applications can streamline workflows, automate repetitive tasks and provide valuable insights. But it's crucial to approach these tools with awareness and caution. When using a generative AI platform that gives you answers to questions you type in a prompt, don't include any personally identifiable information, including names, birth dates, Social Security numbers or home addresses. At the workplace, don't include trade secrets or classified information. In general, don't put anything into a prompt that you wouldn't feel comfortable revealing to the public or seeing on a billboard. Remember, once you hit enter on the prompt, you've lost control of that information. Remember that devices which are turned on are always listening – even if they're asleep. If you use smart home or embedded devices, turn them off when you need to have a private conversation. A device that's asleep looks inactive, but it is still powered on and listening for a wake word or signal. Unplugging a device or removing its batteries is a good way of making sure the device is truly off. Finally, be aware of the terms of service and data collection policies of the devices and platforms that you are using. You might be surprised by what you've already agreed to. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it. Previous articles in the series: How illicit markets fueled by data breaches sell your personal information to criminals The Conversation will be hosting a free webinar on practical and safe use of AI with our tech editor and an AI expert on June 24 at 2pm ET/11am PT. Sign up to get your questions answered. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Christopher Ramezan, West Virginia University Read more: From help to harm: How the government is quietly repurposing everyone's data for surveillance 23andMe is potentially selling more than just genetic data – the personal survey info it collected is just as much a privacy problem Governments continue losing efforts to gain backdoor access to secure communications Christopher Ramezan receives funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
US Recurring Jobless Claims Jump to Highest Since End of 2021
(Bloomberg) -- Recurring applications for US unemployment benefits rose to the highest since the end of 2021, adding to evidence that it is taking unemployed Americans longer to find a new job. Shuttered NY College Has Alumni Fighting Over Its Future Trump's Military Parade Has Washington Bracing for Tanks and Weaponry NYC Renters Brace for Price Hikes After Broker-Fee Ban NY Long Island Rail Service Resumes After Grand Central Fire Do World's Fairs Still Matter? Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, advanced to 1.96 million in the week ended May 31, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. That was above all estimates in a Bloomberg survey. Meanwhile, a measure of new filings that smooths volatility climbed to the highest since August 2023. The spike in recurring claims coincides with a slowdown in hiring, suggesting that out-of-work people are struggling to find employment. However, the report covers periods that included Memorial Day and the start of summer school breaks in some states, which tends to make the data more volatile. Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to hold interest rates steady at their meeting next week, as they wait to see how President Donald Trump's policies affect the economy. Job growth slowed but remained healthy in May, while inflation data released this week showed limited impact from tariffs so far. In a separate report Thursday, US producer price inflation remained muted in May across the board, another sign that higher levies have yet to result in higher prices for consumers and businesses. Treasury yields and the dollar fell after the economic data. What Bloomberg Economics Says... 'Employers are cautious about growth prospects, leading to a relatively weak hiring rate and making it difficult for those who lose jobs to find new ones.' —Eliza Winger To read the full note, see here The claims report shows initial filings were unchanged last week, slightly above forecasts. But the four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that reduces fluctuations, rose to 240,250, the highest since August 2023. Before adjusting for seasonal factors, initial claims also rose last week. California, Minnesota and Pennsylvania saw the largest increases. --With assistance from Nazmul Ahasan. (Adds chart.) American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination New Grads Join Worst Entry-Level Job Market in Years The Spying Scandal Rocking the World of HR Software US Tariffs Threaten to Derail Vietnam's Historic Industrial Boom The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
