February 23, 2026 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says the world is not prepared for the speed at which artificial intelligence is advancing, warning that artificial general intelligence feels “pretty close at this point.” Speaking in New Delhi during a public conversation at Express Adda, held alongside the India AI Impact Summit 2026, he described the trajectory inside leading AI labs as faster and more disruptive than he had anticipated.
According to Altman, the coming generation of models will be “extremely capable,” as he added that the pace of development is “stressful and anxiety-inducing.”
The comments mark one of Altman’s most direct acknowledgments that AI systems may soon rival or exceed human performance across a wide range of professional tasks. Earlier in the week, he suggested that by the end of 2028, more of the world’s intellectual capacity could reside inside data centres than outside them.
Altman has publicly set ambitious internal milestones for OpenAI, including building an intern-level AI research assistant by September 2026 and a fully autonomous AI researcher by March 2028. He noted that even six years ago, the idea of AI systems conducting original research independently would have been widely dismissed.
Beyond technical progress, Altman addressed the economic implications. He reiterated that entire categories of jobs could disappear as AI systems grow more capable. At the same time, he cautioned that some companies are overstating AI’s role in workforce reductions. In a separate interview during the summit, he said there is some “AI washing,” where firms attribute layoffs to artificial intelligence when other factors may be at play.
Still, he acknowledged that AI-driven job displacement will become increasingly visible in the next few years. The impact, he suggested, will not remain theoretical for long.
Altman also renewed calls for international oversight, proposing a global body similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor advanced AI systems. He warned that concentrating powerful AI technologies within a single company or country could carry serious risks. India, which he described as OpenAI’s fastest-growing market, could play a meaningful role in shaping global governance frameworks.
Reflecting on OpenAI’s evolution, Altman said one of his regrets was maintaining the organization’s original nonprofit structure for as long as it did. The company transitioned in late 2025 to a public benefit corporation model as it sought greater flexibility in raising capital and scaling its infrastructure.
