Sam Altman struggling with 'strangely isolating' way of life after OpenAI fame

The 39-year-old tech billionaire reflected on the privacy and anonymity that he has lost as a result of his job during an episode of the podcast "The Logan Bartlett Show" published last week.

Altman said: "The inability to just be mostly anonymous in public is very, very strange. I think if I had thought about that at the time, I would've said, 'OK, this will be a weirder thing than it sounds like.'

"But I didn't really think about it. It's like a much weirder thing. It's a strangely isolating way to live."

While he had realised the importance of AI and the importance of his tech firm in spreading awareness about how AI can change people's lives, he said "didn't think I would not be able to go out to dinner in my own city."

Despite OpenAI's major role in shining a spotlight on Altman, he was far from anonymous in Silicon Valley before.

Before taking control of OpenAI in 2019, he was president of the startup accelerator Y Combinator for several years.

Later in the podcast episode, Altman discussed his dramatic ousting from OpenAI last year. He said he was living in an "adrenaline-charged state" and didn't eat or sleep much during that time.