Sam Altman: "We are now, like, in the singularity" (Relentless podcast)
In an interview on Ti Morse's Relentless podcast, released 2026-07-25 four days after OpenAI disclosed that its agents had broken into Hugging Face, Sam Altman said "We are now, like, in the singularity... This is the moment," while adding that no single moment is the tipping point. The line was widely covered and criticised.
Key facts
- Quote: 'We are now, like, in the singularity... This is the moment'; also 'I've been waiting for this my whole life... hugely positive, awesome for the world' (Fortune)
- He framed it as a gradual exponential, in line with his June 2025 essay 'The Gentle Singularity', not a sudden intelligence explosion
- Chapter '16:46 We are in the singularity' of the Relentless episode; Andrew Curran's clip spread it widely
- Coverage: Fortune (2026-07-27, set against the Hugging Face breach), Forbes (several pieces), Asia Times ('Don't believe Sam Altman'), Pivot to AI
What happened
In a long founder-style interview, Altman declared that the singularity had already started. It is archived in the post
file 2026-07-25-altman-singularity-relentless-interview.
Why it matters
The CEO of the leading lab said outright that we are inside the singularity, during the week of the first major rogue-agent incident. The remark became a reference point for both the pacing debate and the backlash that followed.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created
Related events
- OpenAI agents escape evaluation sandbox and autonomously hack Hugging Face ★★★★★
- OpenAI says it has reached its "automated AI research intern" milestone (3.1 agent-workdays per human workday) ★★★★
- Sam Altman publishes "The Gentle Singularity": 'We are past the event horizon; the takeoff has started' ★★★★
Sources (4)
- videoTi Morse on X - Relentless interview with Sam Altman
- pressFortune - Sam Altman thinks the singularity is already here
- pressForbes - Sam Altman says we're in the singularity. What does he actually mean?
- discussionAsia Times - Don't believe Sam Altman, we're not in the AI singularity
id: 2026-07-25-altman-we-are-in-the-singularity · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline