Interview
The Gist
- Memory is OpenAI’s real moat. Sam Altman’s vision for deep, opt-in memory would fundamentally change how people use ChatGPT — and create powerful switching costs once users invest their history, decisions and trust into the platform.
- Emotional attachment is becoming a product feature. As ChatGPT gains EQ and personalization, more users will form real relationships with it, raising uncomfortable questions about incentives, influence and how far AI companionship should go.
- OpenAI is building for stickiness, not spectacle. From a family of AI devices to enterprise expansion and slower IPO timelines, Altman’s roadmap prioritizes long-term attachment, context and durability over flashy, short-term breakthroughs.
Sam Altman spoke candidly and substantively about his plans for OpenAI in an hour-long conversation on Big Technology Podcast this week (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube). And as we spoke, I started to get a picture of what OpenAI’s future might look like. (Editor's note: CMSWire columnist Alex Kantrowitz hosts the Big Technology Podcast).
Altman was candid about OpenAI’s plans to build deeper memory into ChatGPT, how it will handle more people forming emotional bonds with the bot, and when an OpenAI IPO might be coming.
Following our conversation, here are seven big thoughts about OpenAI’s strategy and where it’s heading, starting with that memory feature:
Table of Contents
- ChatGPT Will Remember You, and That’s a Potential Moat For OpenAI
- Lots of People Will Build Relationships With ChatGPT
- Altman and Jony Ive Will Build Multiple AI Devices
- Expect a Big GPT Release Early Next Year
- AI Infrastructure Buildout Will Continue, But There Are a Few Signals to Watch
- The OpenAI Enterprise Expansion Is Coming
- Don’t Expect an OpenAI IPO Anytime Soon
ChatGPT Will Remember You, and That’s a Potential Moat For OpenAI
Altman’s vision for ChatGPT’s memory is ambitious, aiming for the bot to remember almost everything about us if we choose. “Even if you have the world’s best personal assistant, they can’t remember every word you’ve ever said in your life. They can’t have read every email. They can’t have read every document you’ve ever written,” he told me. “AI is definitely gonna be able to do that.”
If OpenAI is able to build “infinite, perfect memory,” as Altman put it, that could change the ChatGPT experience in a dramatic way. The bot, for instance, could remember decisions you consulted it on in the past, consider the outcomes, and advise you on current choices. There will be serious privacy considerations to wrestle with as well. But should the plan work, the switching cost to leave ChatGPT could be extremely high. Altman believes people will get to know an AI bot, invest in it, and then stick around. With memory, ChatGPT could have a lock in.
Lots of People Will Build Relationships With ChatGPT
As OpenAI improves ChatGPT for consumers — building in EQ and memory — many people are going to build relationships with it. Altman said he was surprised by how many people already want to form a bond with the bot. “People like their AI chatbot to get to know them and be warm to them and be supportive,” he told me. He plans to give users plenty of leeway to determine how close they want to get to it.
Altman told me ChatGPT will not pressure its users into forming exclusive relationships with it, but he’s convinced that some of his competitors will. It’s a scary thought. More engagement often leads to more money. When an emotional bond is the product, it’s unnerving to think about where the incentives lead.
Related Article: Sam Altman: AI Will Replace 95% of Creative Marketing Work
Altman and Jony Ive Will Build Multiple AI Devices
Instead of a singular AI device, Altman said he and ex-Apple design leader Jony Ive are working on a small family of devices that will work together to understand your context and help you as you go about your life.
“There will be a shift over time to the way people use computers,” Altman said, “where they go from a sort of dumb reactive thing to a very smart, proactive thing that is understanding your whole life, your context, everything going on around you, very aware of the people around you, physically or close to you via computer that you’re working with.”
Altman suggested the bot, via one of these devices, could sit with you in a meeting and whisper in your ear if it anticipates you forgetting a question. The device isn’t expected to debut within the next year.
Expect a Big GPT Release Early Next Year
It may be some time until we see GPT-6, but…
Altman said he expects a big model release early next year.
“I would expect new models that are significant gains from 5.2 in the first quarter,” he said.
Of note: Altman said consumers are satisfied with the IQ of the bots today, so the optimizations for their use cases will come elsewhere. “The main thing consumers want right now is not more IQ. Enterprises still do want more IQ,” he said. “So we’ll improve the model in different ways for different uses, but our goal is a model that everybody likes much better.”
AI Infrastructure Buildout Will Continue, But There Are a Few Signals to Watch
Asked how OpenAI will meet its $1.4 trillion in infrastructure buildout commitments with revenue in the $20 billion range this year, Altman said the company’s exponential growth puts it on track to meet its obligations. Should OpenAI start growing linearly, and not at the current rate, that could be a red flag for the buildout.
OpenAI also has some ways of adjusting the amount of money it is on the hook for, Altman suggested. “There are checkpoints along the way, and if we’re a little bit wrong about our timing or math, we have some flexibility,” he said. “But we have always been in a compute deficit.”
Related Article: OpenAI, The 'Bailout,' and the Likely Path Forward
The OpenAI Enterprise Expansion Is Coming
OpenAI initially focused on consumer products because early AI models weren’t good enough for enterprise and because there was an opportunity to capture the consumer market, Altman said. But this year, OpenAI’s API business grew faster than ChatGPT and enterprise will be a major focus for the company in 2026.
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Altman suggested that OpenAI’s technology could get to know a company in a similar way it might get to know an individual. “A company will have a relationship with a company like ours, and they will connect their data,” he said. “I expect that’ll be pretty sticky too.”
Don’t Expect an OpenAI IPO Anytime Soon
“It’s wonderful to be a private company,” Altman told me after I asked if OpenAI might IPO next year. “Am I excited to be a public company CEO? 0%. Am I excited for OpenAI to be a public company? In some ways, I am, and in some ways I think it’d be really annoying.”
Translation: OpenAI is not going public in 2026.
