From Fair Game: Sam Altman Talks Elon Musk, ‘Artificial,’ and the Future of Humanity (Part 1 of 2)

Every day a new scientific breakthrough or existential threat seems to make the world more aware and more distrusting of an AI future that we’re told is rapidly approaching—whether we like it or not. And nobody is more recognized as the face of artificial intelligence—as a technology, an industry, and a civilizational shift—than Open AI founder and CEO Sam Altman. Long before he became a household name, Altman established a towering reputation in Silicon Valley: persuasive prodigy, visionary futurist, relentless CEO. But as OpenAI’s influence broke out of tech’s insular bubble, some of the very same traits that served him well in Northern California have become his greatest liabilities. In a far-ranging conversation taped in San Francisco on September 11th – the first of two sitdowns with Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci –  Altman discusses his views on ChatGPT and suicide prevention, safety breaches, and the film ‘Artificial,’ in which Andrew Garfield plays him—along with much more.  “I understand the instinct to say, ‘I don't want the change, I don't want the risk. Just stop it,’” Altman says. “I really hope that hundreds of years from now people look back at our lives and just can't believe how bad we had it.” This is the first installment of a two-part interview with Altman. You can find the second installment on YouTube and podcast apps now.  Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this second of two sitdowns with Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci, taped in San Francisco on October 2nd, OpenAI’s Sam Altman discusses the ‘accord’ signed by AI leaders and President Trump, defends his company’s record on safety-related slowdowns, and clarifies how he’d like to be remembered as the story of this era of technology is written. “I'm going to make many individual decisions you clearly won't like,” Altman says. “But if you look at the trajectory of what we have done over the last many years we've been offering this, it's imperfect, but I think remarkably good relative to what I feared it could have been.” This is the second installment of a two-part interview with Altman. You can find the first installment on YouTube and podcast apps now.  Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on ⁠YouTube⁠ or ⁠wherever you get your podcasts. When you sit down with playwright, producer, and provocateur Jeremy O. Harris, you never really know what you’re going to get; today’s conversation is no exception. In this episode of Fair Game, Harris and Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci touch on everything from Jeremy’s childhood to the Democratic Socialists of America, from the state of the American theater to why the tech industry’s leaders are not prioritizing giving back to society. They also discuss Jeremy’s 2018 theatrical debut, Slave Play, and why Jeremy pushed to make sure it made a splash.  “People don't realize that every year that I wasn't making real money, my mom was calling me and saying, 'Goodyear's hiring. You could come back and work at the factory,'” Harris says. “I was doing anything I could to not go back to Virginia and have to work at a Burger King.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the first episode of Fair Game, Vanity Fair’s new interview show, Mark Guiducci sits down with actor, writer, and director Colman Domingo for a conversation about Colman’s career, sense of style, and philosophy on the world. They touch on Colman’s role as a peacemaker on the set of Euphoria, his performance as Joe Jackson in Michael, and his early work in a political children’s circus where he played a salamander on stilts. “I've had to build this career,” Domingo says. “There's no career that looks like mine. No one writes musicals and plays and directs and acts and sings and dances… I created this space for myself. But it's not because I wanted to, it's because I had to” Listen to and follow Fair Game from Vanity Fair on YouTube or ⁠wherever you get your podcasts⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet Wally Amos. He founded the ubiquitous Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies in 1975, turning the brand into an overnight sensation and himself into a pop-culture fixture in the 1970s and 1980s.  But there’s a darker side to Wally’s seemingly sweet story. One filled with five marriages to six women and a string of bad business decisions that led him to lose the empire he had created. When he passed away in 2024, host Sarah Amos set out to untangle her father’s complicated past and finally face the life and legacy she had been avoiding.  New episodes every Wednesday: swap.fm/l/vf-toughcookie-feed Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard, Chris, and Hillary bid farewell to the podcast by remembering some of their favorite series finales ever—and promise to never stop believin’. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard, Chris, and Hillary are handing out awards this week and designating which programs deserve to be named the best drama, comedy, and reality series in television history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Girls star Allison Williams joins Chris, Richard, and Hillary to talk about the beloved show's polarizing run, its surprising afterlife, and what Marnie might be up to in 2024: "I think she's still looking." Plus, our listeners reveal their favorite episodes of Girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris, Hillary, and Richard make the case for revisiting Lena Dunham's Girls and debate which of three standouts is the show's best episode ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Richard, Chris, and Hillary dig into the second season of Netflix's twisty drama, starring Keri Russell as an ambassador caught in a political storm. Plus, showrunner Debora Cahn illuminates the season's explosive ending, and gives just a few hints about what to expect from the show's already-in-the-works third season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices