Altman Compares AI Benchmark Hype To The Intel-AMD Megahertz Race — Says It's Time To Think Like Apple
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has spoken about the AI industry’s obsession with benchmarks being outdated — likening it to the processor wars between Intel Corporation INTC and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD — and argues it’s time to focus on real-world impact, just like Apple Inc. AAPL did.
What Happened: In a conversation with podcaster Theo Von last week at OpenAI’s San Francisco office, Altman reflected on the current state of AI development and the so-called “race” to build advanced models or even artificial general intelligence (AGI).
“It certainly feels that way,” Altman said when asked if there’s a race among companies. “We went through the equivalent of our megahertz race with our benchmark race, and now people kind of don’t care about that as much.”
He compared the fixation on benchmark scores — once touted by companies like Intel and AMD to promote faster processors — to the early days of personal computing.
Altman noted that Apple eventually shifted away from highlighting raw clock speeds in favor of user experience and overall performance.
“You probably don’t even know what the processor speed of your iPhone is today,” he said. “I think the same thing is happening in AI.”
The OpenAI CEO suggested the focus is shifting toward “who’s using the model” and “who’s getting the value out of it,” rather than who can score highest on test metrics.
He added that while many in the industry believe there’s a race toward a singular milestone — perhaps the emergence of self-improving systems or superintelligence — he’s personally unsure there’s one definitive finish line.
Why It’s Important: Altman’s remarks come amid increasing scrutiny over the pace and direction of AI development. As competition intensifies between tech giants and new-age startups like OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google, Anthropic and Meta Platforms, Inc. META, his comments underscore a strategic pivot: from performance metrics to practical deployment and societal impact.
Meanwhile, several high-profile tech CEOs have given their prediction on when artificial general intelligence or AGI will arrive. Altman previously stated that it could be introduced during the presidency of Donald Trump.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin said it could arrive before 2030, while Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis offered a more cautious estimate, saying it will likely come just after 2030.
Last year, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggested that AGI might be achieved as soon as 2026 or 2027, while noting that unexpected external influences could potentially slow its progress.
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