Old video of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at Apple WWDC 2008 Resurfaces
An old video featuring OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, presenting at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2008 has recently resurfaced on social media, just ahead of WWDC 2024. In the video, a 23-year-old Altman showcases a friend-locating service called Loopt. This innovative app was designed to assist users in easily finding their friends' locations.
Loopt was among the pioneering companies to secure funding from the startup accelerator Y Combinator. Despite forging partnerships with major wireless carriers like Sprint, Loopt struggled to gain traction among users. Eventually, in 2012, the banking company Green Dot acquired Loopt for $43 million.
Altman's Career Progression
In 2011, Altman embarked on a part-time role as a partner at Y Combinator. Subsequently, the following year, he co-founded the venture fund Hydrazine Capital alongside his brother, Max Altman. Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was appointed by Y Combinator founders Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston to take over from Graham as the president in 2014.
Interestingly, nearly 16 years later, there are whispers that Apple might feature OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in an upcoming announcement of a new partnership with the tech giant. According to reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is gearing up to collaborate with OpenAI to unveil a chatbot for iOS 18. Apple is also anticipated to introduce its own AI models for handling smaller tasks. Additionally, there were talks of Apple negotiating with Google to integrate Gemini; however, this partnership did not come to fruition.
Apple's AI Endeavors
With the iOS 18 update, Apple is set to introduce new AI capabilities, aligning itself with competitors like Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy devices. Nevertheless, not all iPhone users will have access to the full suite of iOS 18 features. Gurman suggests that certain features may be exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro models. If these reports hold true, Apple's iPhone sales could experience a significant surge.
For those interested, the video can be watched here.
