Altman: "The Value of People with Ideas Will Rise"

[Financial News] Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, predicted that in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), the value of people with creative ideas will rise more than that of those with technical skills.
According to online outlet Axios on the 7th, local time, Altman said in a recent interview that the AI era is creating opportunities for aspiring founders with ideas.
In the past, even people with business ideas found it difficult to succeed as entrepreneurs if they lacked the technical ability to implement them. AI, however, is removing that limitation.


Altman explained that AI can make ideas profitable even when they previously could not be commercialized because of cost concerns.
He cited the recent case of a founder who used OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 to create software for a specific field and sold it to 50 customers for $500 per customer per month, or approximately 670,000 won.
Altman said, "Hiring software engineers would have cost millions of dollars," adding, "Now, if you have only an idea for a specific task in a very small industry, you can create and sell software for it."
He also introduced a case in which someone developed a computer game using OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-6 Astra.
Altman said the game would appeal to only a very small niche rather than the general public, but added, "In the past, making a computer game for only a few thousand people was not economically viable at all. Now it is possible."


In other words, AI has changed the economics of starting a business.
Altman predicted that in the AI era, the value of founders who deeply understand customer needs could increase even if they lack coding skills.
He said, "For a long time, the most important factor in a startup was technical ability, and it still is important," but added, "If someone truly understands customers deeply, I would want to invest in that person even if they cannot code at all."
Axios reported that entrepreneurial activity is in fact continuing to grow in the United States alongside the spread of AI.
Applications to establish new businesses in the United States exceeded 3 million in the first half of this year. That was the highest level since related statistics began being compiled in 2005.
Altman said, "It is as if anyone who wants to start a company can now have genius-level employees in every area of expertise," adding, "The range of ideas that are economically viable has expanded dramatically."


[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, International Affairs Correspondent Reporter