Sam Altman Says Humans Must Retain Control of the Future, Even With Superintelligence

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that humanity should never surrender control over its future to superintelligent artificial intelligence, even if maintaining that control slows technological progress.
“People should always be in control of the future,” Altman said, emphasizing the importance of human authority over increasingly capable AI systems.
The comments address a central concern in AI development: how to ensure that advanced systems remain accountable to human decisions as their capabilities expand.
The position also highlights the tension between accelerating AI research and establishing safeguards for technologies that could eventually exceed human performance across many domains.
Altman's remarks express a principle for AI governance rather than announcing a specific new policy or technical restriction.