Billionaire Sam Altman says his own son will grow up in a world where humans never catch up to artificial intelligence—and he's fine with that.
At GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai last month, the OpenAI CEO joined remotely from San Francisco for a conversation with G42 CEO Peng Xiao, whose Abu Dhabi–based company builds national-scale AI and cloud systems across the Middle East. When moderator Amandeep Bhangu brought up one of Altman's past predictions—that a child born today may never outsmart AI—Altman made it personal.
"I have a kid that was born in 2025," he said. "I don't think he'll ever be smarter than AI."
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But that doesn't mean his son is doomed to feel inferior. "I don't think that'll get in the way of his happiness or fulfillment at all," Altman added. "It's… the only world they'll ever know."
The exchange wasn't just a thought experiment. It was a reality check from the man steering one of the most powerful tech companies on Earth—someone who sees AI not as a distant disruptor, but as the environment today's kids will grow up in, compete with, and eventually collaborate alongside.
From there, Altman widened the lens, raising a point he believes isn't getting nearly enough attention: "We talk a lot about AI that can do other AI research," he said, "but very little about data centers that can build other data centers—or robots that can build other robots."
That vision of recursive, self-improving systems may sound abstract, but Altman delivered it with the certainty of someone who's already living in that timeline.
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Altman didn't stop at mind-blowing hypotheticals like robots building robots. He pivoted to a bigger vision—one where intelligence itself becomes cheap and abundant. "I do think we are heading to a world where the cost of intelligence is going to converge to the cost of energy," he said, emphasizing the need to build out massive infrastructure to support that future. "But the reason we do all of this is because we believe it can transform the world for people… it can unlock all sorts of incredible new things—and that people deserve this."
That world might feel "normal" to today's newborns, but for everyone else, it's raising questions that don't come with easy answers. Some see AI as progress, others see a paycheck disappearing.
The fear isn't just about robots building other robots—it's about jobs that no longer need humans. From warehouse work to white-collar analysis, people are already asking how they'll compete, retrain, or even survive if AI reshapes everything faster than society can catch up.
The conversation, hosted in Dubai's futuristic expo hall, was focused on building AI responsibly—ethically, globally, and fast. But for Generation Beta—the first to grow up in an AI-native world—there is no ‘before' to compare it to.
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