After controversial speech about artificial intelligence, CEO of OpenAi, Sam Altman, defends distribution of wealth and reduction of work scale

Support the reduction of work schedule and saying that “humans also spend a lot of energy to be trained” are two opinions that, at first, seem opposite in the discussion about the advancement of artificial intelligence and its consequences for humanity.

But both arguments came, in the space of just two months, from the mouth of the same person: the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman.

OpenAI’s great public relations enemy

Just like the beginning of the internet, the emergence of artificial intelligence seemed like something out of science fiction or something that would take years to get off the ground. Until it became reality.

At first, copyright emerged among the major issues raised by AIsas models were trained with unauthorized human creations, such as using art to generate images.

Before long, the debate became a little more worrying: how much energy and resources are needed to train and keep AIs functioning on a planet that is already dealing with the consequences of human pollution.

Five years ago, when the subject began to bubble, data centers were already among the top 10 in the ranking of industries with high water consumption in Brazil. United States. The study was carried out by a team from Virginia Tech college.

In 2026, the CEO of OpenAI, owner of ChatGPTwas asked about this use during an event promoted by The Indian Express… and Altman’s response was as follows:

“It takes something like 20 years of life and all the food you consume during that time for you to become intelligent. And not only that: it took widespread evolution of the 100 billion people who have ever lived — who learned not to be eaten by predators, who learned to understand science and other things — to produce you.”

In other words, in Altman’s view, it’s not about how much AIs spend, but how much they spend compared to humans.

Now, Altman defends taxation of the rich and 4×3 scale

The comment didn’t go over well. Altman was the target of harsh criticism in the weeks that followed. The answer came in a good old “textão”.

Although he did not comment on past statements, the CEO appears to have changed sides in the discussion.

In a 13-page article titled “Industrial Policy for the Age of Intelligence: Ideas to Keep People First” Altman defends a world in which superintelligence benefit everyone in three main points:

1. Prosperity is widely shared, improving the standard of living for all
2. Risks such as economic disruption and misuse are mitigated
3. Access to the tool is democratized

And while in Brazil still struggling to move from a 6×1 to a 5×2 scale, Altman goes further. In the article, he advocates reducing the working day to 32 hours per week on a 4×3 scale, with four days worked and three days off.

At the same time, in the view of OpenAI’s CEO, it is necessary to find ways to encourage companies to retain and retrain their employees, in order to mitigate the unemployment caused by AIs.

Finally, Altman proposes the creation of a fund through which the gains generated by the advancement of AIs are shared with workers and society in general.