TMTB: Sam Altman at Mizuho Tech Conference - notes

Thanks to a reader who passed these along…

Core Metrics
ChatGPT now has 600 million active users and 20 million paid subscribers. OpenAI is valued at over $300 billion.

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What Sparked ChatGPT Adoption

Adoption accelerated when the tech reached a usable threshold. GPT-3 wasn’t enough—GPT-3.5 marked the turning point by making conversations feel smoother and more useful, getting details right more consistently.

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ChatGPT-5 and Product Evolution

OpenAI's goal is to deliver a continuous, ever-improving system—not a versioned product like "ChatGPT-17." ChatGPT-4 has quietly improved since launch with better voices, image generation, and more. Think of the evolution as similar to the iPhone: a single product that gets better with time.

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Company Vision and Enterprise Strategy

Today, ChatGPT is just a chatbot. The long-term ambition is to build an AI assistant that knows your context, thinks about how to improve your life, and helps you seamlessly—like having the best team of executives at your side.

This may involve ChatGPT, new devices, or other products tied to your OpenAI account.

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Physical Integration: Device or App?

It will be both. Some interactions will happen through your phone or another device. Others may occur on different platforms or hardware powered by OpenAI tech.

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Enterprise Focus

OpenAI started with consumers but found rapid pull into the enterprise. Workers brought ChatGPT into their workflows. Now it connects to enterprise data, with virtual employees on the horizon—some solving complex problems with high compute usage.

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On Virtual Workers Replacing Jobs

As with every tech revolution, jobs will change—some will disappear, new ones will emerge. There will be real pain during the transition, especially for older workers who resist reskilling. But over time, society adapts.

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Redefining the Internet

Instead of navigating ad-driven, overwhelming interfaces, ChatGPT offers calm, focused interaction—like texting a friend. Early user feedback praised the simplicity. This led to the minimalist black-and-white interface and logo, now core to its brand. ChatGPT is considered one of the most trusted large tech products.

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Competitive Landscape & DeepSeek