Sam Altman says he relies on ChatGPT for raising his newborn: ‘I cannot imagine doing it without it’

Sam Altman

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has said he cannot imagine navigating early parenthood without the help of ChatGPT. Speaking during his first appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Altman admitted he regularly consults the chatbot for parenting guidance, calling it an essential source of reassurance during the first months of raising his son.

Altman joked about putting trivial questions to a system designed for complex reasoning, saying he sometimes feels odd asking things like “Why does my kid drop pizza on the floor and laugh?” But he also noted that the value of immediate, personalised advice has been immense. One moment that stood out for him involved a party conversation in which another parent mentioned that their six-month-old was crawling everywhere. Worried that his own child had not yet reached that stage, Altman stepped aside and asked ChatGPT whether he should see a doctor. He said the model gave a calm explanation that his son’s pace was entirely normal.

He added that the response felt tailored, pointing out his own environment surrounded by high-achieving people and nudging him not to project that pressure onto his child. “It is personalised, like ChatGPT gets to know you,” he told Fallon.

The remarks arrive as Altman pushes OpenAI through a period of heightened competition. Reports last week indicated that he declared a “code red” inside the company, urging teams to prioritise improvements to ChatGPT amid increasing pressure from rivals such as Google. Altman has previously spoken about how becoming a parent has shifted his view of technology, telling a podcast earlier this year that future generations would grow up in a world where AI is always present.

Altman and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their son in February and have maintained a largely private family life. His comments on the show reflect how deeply embedded AI tools have already become in everyday routines, even for the person leading the company that built them.