Sam Altman’s Mental Health Mentions: 2014–2025
2014
Published blog post “Founder Depression” acknowledging startup founders face immense pressure to never show weakness: “most of the founders I know have had seriously dark times, and usually felt like there was no one they could turn to.” (link)
June 15, 2016
Admitted struggle with Twitter addiction: “I’d like to use Twitter in a more limited way, but it’s extremely addictive. So I need to take awhile off first to break the cycle :)”
December 3, 2016
Tweeted: “Digital addiction is going to be one of the great mental health crises of our time.” (link)
2020
During COVID-19, helped fund Project Covalence to help researchers rapidly launch clinical trials, acknowledging broad health impacts including mental health. (link)
January 14, 2022
Art of Accomplishment podcast: Revealed being a “very anxious, unhappy person” with “crippling anxiety” that interfered with productivity and decision-making. “I would wake up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding, just terrified of everything.”
April 7, 2022
Celebrated advances in psychedelic medicine: “Really excited for the impact this is going to have on mental health and happiness; I think it will be a pretty big step forward.”
June 2022
Attended Bilderberg Meeting discussing AI’s impact on society and potential mental health implications.
April 2023
As chairman of Journey Colab, announced investment in psychedelic therapies to “revolutionize mental health care and addiction treatment” with MDMA and psilocybin. (link)
May 2023
Congressional testimony on AI safety: “we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live.” (link)
October 6, 2023
Joe Rogan Experience: Explored cultural attitudes toward addiction and drugs: “We have this weird relationship with drugs in our culture… why do we demonize some and glorify others?” (link)
December 2023
Following temporary removal from OpenAI: Acknowledged experience was “extremely painful for me personally” but that managing stress as AI advances toward AGI is crucial.
January 2024
World Economic Forum, Davos: Discussed how AI could help address global challenges including healthcare and mental health support systems. (link)
February 29, 2024
Shaping the Future of Learning podcast: “AI can be a tool for personalized support in mental health and early childhood education, but we have to ensure it’s accessible to everyone.” (link)
May 2024
Speaking at MIT: Noted while AI will eliminate many jobs, humans are “wired to care about other humans” and will find meaningful work. (link)
May 4, 2024
X post: “using technology to create abundance — intelligence, energy, longevity, whatever — will not solve all problems and will not magically make everyone happy.” (link)
September 2024
“Life in Seven Songs” podcast: Described psychedelic experiences as “one of the most transformative experiences of my life” helping overcome anxiety. (link)
September 25, 2024
On psychedelic retreat in Mexico: “If you had told me that one weekend-long retreat in Mexico was going to significantly change that, I would have said absolutely not.” (link)
November 2024
NYU Silver School: Expressed excitement about “AI for Social Equity,” including projects using ML to predict mental health outcomes and support trauma survivors. (link)
January 6, 2025
ReThinking podcast with Adam Grant: “AI is beating us at the intelligence game… but we need to think about the mental health implications of handing over so much decision-making.” (link)
June 27, 2025
Hard Fork Live event: Advocated for incorporating mental health breaks into AI development workflows.
July 23, 2025
Theo Von’s podcast: Warned about privacy concerns when using ChatGPT for therapy without doctor-patient confidentiality. “The decimation of human attention might even be a bigger cost to humanity than the mental health and mental fragility issues.” (link)
July 25, 2025
X post: “AI dependence among teens is a widespread pattern that’s bad and dangerous.” (link)
August 9, 2025
Huge Conversations podcast: “I can get why this was bad for other people’s mental health, but this was great for my mental health.” (link)
August 11, 2025
X post: “if a user is in a mentally fragile state and prone to delusion, we do not want the AI to reinforce that… A lot of people effectively use ChatGPT as a sort of therapist or life coach.”
September 16, 2025
Hours before Senate hearing on AI harms: Pledged new safeguards for teens following parent testimony about teen suicides. (link)
September 17, 2025
Blog post announcing ChatGPT restrictions for under-18 users regarding suicide and self-harm content. “We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens.” Announced plan to contact parents/authorities if under-18 user shows suicidal ideation. (link)
September 20, 2025
OpenAI announced age-prediction system to automatically determine if users are over or under 18. (link)
September 22, 2025
OpenAI announced parental controls for teen accounts. (link)
September 30, 2025
NPR reported Altman’s statement: “This is a new and powerful technology, and we believe minors need significant protection.” (link)
October 14, 2025
X posts: “We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues.” Announced plans to relax restrictions while maintaining safety, allow more human-like responses, and enable erotica for verified adults in December. (link)
October 15, 2025
Following backlash, posted OpenAI is “not the elected moral police of the world” and “cares very much about the principle of treating adult users like adults.” Announced eight-person council to advise on healthy AI interactions. (link)
October 16, 2025
Clarified OpenAI won’t change mental health policies, safety remains priority, and will maintain different standards for users with mental health issues. “Protection is necessary for minors.” (link)
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