Sam Altman says the world should accept some AI harms in exchange for its benefits

Sam Altman has a message for anyone hoping AI arrives without side effects: it won’t, and he thinks that’s an acceptable trade. In an interview published on October 4, 2026, the OpenAI CEO argued that society should tolerate some negative outcomes from artificial intelligence in return for broad access to the technology and its benefits. What Altman actually said Altman framed the issue as a deliberate choice rather than an unfortunate side effect. His core statement was blunt. “We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.” The downsides he acknowledged include hacks, scams and misuse. His argument is that the upside outweighs those risks. Altman explicitly rejected treating AI as a zero-risk proposition, saying the benefits would exceed the harms. He also pushed for what he described as a lighter-touch approach to regulation. Harms should be acknowledged, in his view, but heavy rules could choke off innovation before it delivers. The Anthropic contrast Altman’s comments draw a sharp line between OpenAI and Anthropic, the rival lab led by Dario Amodei. Anthropic has called for stricter safety mea...