Billions Will Access Free AGI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has delivered one of his boldest predictions yet:

“In the future, billions of people will use free AGI.”

According to Altman, AGI will not simply be cheaper — it will be ubiquitous, reaching every corner of the globe. The massive productivity unlocked by AI will push the global economy into a phase of extreme deflation, as efficiency and surplus wealth radically reshape industries.

One example he gave: with AI’s help, humanity may finally commercialize controlled nuclear fusion. If that happens, electricity prices worldwide could collapse, effectively making energy nearly free.

“I hope things like water, food, healthcare, education, access to nature, and time with family become affordable for everyone,” Altman said.

Interview link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NwK-uq16U8

OpenAI’s Vision: A Personal AGI for Everyone

Altman reiterated OpenAI’s core mission: building a “personal AGI” — an intelligent assistant that is not only conversational but also deeply personal.

• It will know you, integrate your data, and work in your preferred way.
• It will function as both product and platform, seamlessly connecting with services.
• Ultimately, it becomes your default digital deputy.

This vision moves beyond simple chat — toward a computing paradigm where AGI is the operating system of intelligence.

The Enterprise Playbook: Virtual Colleagues & Superteams

Altman sees two clear routes for AI’s role in enterprises:

• Virtual Colleagues: AI handles all the essential-but-uninspiring tasks, improving execution across the organization.
• Superteams: companies can direct an entire compute cluster at an intractable challenge, such as new materials discovery or supply chain optimization, unleashing breakthroughs impossible before.

AI Programmers: This Year’s “Big Story”

Altman made a strong bet:

“I’d wager that AI programming will be the ‘big story’ for the rest of this year.”

The reasoning: it addresses core bottlenecks in nearly every company, while offering direct business ROI. Firms investing early in AI-driven development will leap ahead of competitors.

Key Insights from the Interview

• Don’t chase the “last cycle’s winners.” Too much capital is still betting on the “next OpenAI,” instead of funding what new technologies make possible.
• ChatGPT nearly didn’t launch. Early retention was terrible; the team doubted it. But realizing that a company needs a product before it can scale, they pressed forward — and the rest is history.
• AI founders must think long-term. Altman suggests asking: “If an oracle told you models will get 10x better every year, what should you build today?”
• Energy demand will explode. Even with DeepSeek’s highly efficient LLM, global AI workloads will eventually require tens to hundreds of gigawatts of power.

Extreme Deflation and Surplus Wealth

Altman envisions AGI creating an era where abundance becomes the baseline:

• Wealth surpluses will make essentials nearly free.
• Luxuries and “status games” may shift to rare cultural or cosmic assets — think billion-dollar Da Vinci paintings or galaxy-scale ventures.
• The bigger challenge will be designing systems for distributing surplus wealth fairly.

AI + Energy: The Next Frontier

While LLM efficiency improves, AI’s appetite for power will surge:

• Tens or even hundreds of gigawatts could be required to sustain global AI demand.
• In the long run, AI costs will converge with electricity costs, as everything else (chipmaking, automation) grows cheaper.

This tight link means AI progress is inseparable from the energy revolution — with fusion and renewables as critical enablers.

Conclusion: A New Epoch of Technology

For Altman, AGI is not just about replacing jobs — it’s about redefining abundance. Just as transistors disappeared into the background yet powered every modern device, AGI may soon be the invisible infrastructure behind all innovation.

The stakes are enormous: billions gaining free access to AGI, extreme deflation reshaping economies, and global power grids strained under new demands.

The only certainty? The next decade will rewrite the playbook of technology, economics, and society.

Conversation Highlights: Sam Altman with Vinod Khosla

Q1. Why did you decide to keep pushing with OpenAI despite early setbacks?

• Altman: Early versions of ChatGPT almost got scrapped — retention was terrible. But I realized a company needs a product before it can scale. We launched it anyway, and that decision changed everything.

Q2. How should startups think about AI opportunities?

• Altman: Too many founders are chasing “last cycle’s winners,” like trying to rebuild another OpenAI. The real opportunity is to ask:
  “If models improve 10x every year, what should I build today?”
• Companies must see AI not just as cost-cutting but as a strategic core that redefines the boundaries of business.

Q3. What’s the most valuable role of AI inside enterprises?

• Altman: I see two clear modes:
  1. Virtual Colleagues — AI takes over crucial but uninspiring tasks.
  2. Superteams — enterprises aim entire compute clusters at one hard problem, unlocking breakthroughs.

Q4. What will be the “big AI story” of this year?

• Altman: I’d bet on AI programming.
  It addresses the productivity bottleneck inside every company, and coding AIs will soon become standard corporate weapons.

Q5. What will AGI look like for individuals?

• Altman: Our vision is a “personal AGI.”
  • It knows you, integrates your data, and adapts to your style.
  • It’s both product and platform, acting as your digital deputy.
  • Over time, it becomes the default computing interface.

Q6. How will AGI reshape the economy?

• Altman: We’re heading toward an age of extreme deflation.
  • AGI can help unlock breakthroughs in industries constrained by physics: energy, materials, healthcare.
  • With AI-driven nuclear fusion, electricity could drop to near-zero cost.
  • The world will face wealth surpluses — the real challenge will be distributing them fairly.

Q7. What’s the biggest bottleneck for AI’s future?

• Altman: Energy.
  • Even with efficiency improvements like DeepSeek, AI will eventually require tens to hundreds of gigawatts of power.
  • In the long run, the cost of AI will converge with the cost of electricity.

Takeaway

From a product that almost didn’t launch to a technology that could redefine global abundance, Altman’s perspective is consistent: never underestimate the pace of exponential progress. For both companies and individuals, the challenge isn’t whether to adopt AI — it’s how fast you can adapt to its relentless acceleration.