AI Agents Are Ready to Take Over Jobs, Says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, shared his outlook on the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a blog post on January 6.

Altman expressed confidence that OpenAI has cracked the code for building AGI, the level of artificial intelligence that closely mirrors human cognitive capabilities. 

Sam Altman Reveals His Vision for AI

According to Altman’s projections, the first AI agents could enter the workforce by 2025, altering the way businesses operate. These AI agents, capable of performing tasks traditionally handled by humans, will enhance productivity.

AI agents are autonomous systems or programs that can perform tasks or make decisions based on their environment and inputs without constant human intervention. They operate intelligently by perceiving the world, processing information, and taking action.

This marks a critical shift from current AI systems, which are limited to narrow tasks like chatbots or machine learning models. 

Altman’s vision extends even further into the field of superintelligence. Altman said the OpenAI team is focused not just on improving current Artificial Intelligence models but on developing superintelligent tools as well.

Nevertheless, Altman acknowledged that such a future may sound like science fiction to many. 

“This sounds like science fiction right now, and somewhat crazy to even talk about it. That’s alright—we’ve been there before and we’re OK with being there again,” Altman said. 

Altman Vs. Buterin: The Future of AI

However, Vitalik Buterin has raised alarm over the risks associated with superintelligent AI. He even proposed a ‘soft pause’ on AI computing to avoid the threats from AI.

This was in stark contrast to Altman’s approach, which suggests rolling out AI slowly, giving the world time to adapt.

“We continue to believe that the best way to make an AI system safe is by iteratively and gradually releasing it into the world, giving society time to adapt and co-evolve with the technology, learning from experience, and continuing to make the technology safer,” Altman added

The comments from Altman and Buterin come amid a continuous focus on AI-driven innovations. Recently, Haseeb Qureshi, founder of Dragonfly, highlighted in his 2025 predictions that AI agents are poised to revolutionize crypto. 

In October, Coinbase launched an AI tool called Based Agent that allows users to create AI Agents independently. Similarly, there are multiple examples of AI Agents being used for real-world purposes.

For instance, blockchain startup Story Protocol recently hired a Virtual Protocol AI Agent, Luna, to run its X account. The agent is the first of its kind to take over an X account for a daily payment of $1,000.

Another blockchain platform, Axal, said it introduced AI Agent Gekko with its autopilot in December.