Despite an ongoing employment crisis that has disproportionately affected members of Generation Z, Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI, expressed an unexpected sentiment—one of admiration and even envy—toward today’s young college dropouts. During a reflective conversation with Rowan Cheung at the DevDay conference on Monday, Altman confessed, in his characteristically candid tone, that he feels a distinct sense of envy for the twenty‑year‑olds who now choose to step away from traditional education paths. He elaborated that the current moment offers an unparalleled breadth of possibilities in technology and innovation. According to him, the contemporary landscape—brimming with advanced tools, easily accessible resources, and an open frontier for experimentation—creates a fertile ground for ambitious young people who want to build something extraordinary from scratch.

Altman went on to admit that he has not enjoyed a significant span of uninterrupted mental freedom in years, the kind of open mental space that allows for deep creative exploration. Were he able to detach himself temporarily from his responsibilities at OpenAI, he believes he would uncover countless exciting directions to pursue, given the sheer abundance of innovation now at anyone’s fingertips. This reflection carries extra weight coming from Altman, who himself dropped out of Stanford University in 2005 after studying computer science for two years. At nineteen, he made the bold decision to leave academia in order to cofound Loopt, a location‑based social‑media application that encouraged users to share their whereabouts with friends. The startup went on to participate in the early cohorts of Y Combinator, the influential Silicon Valley accelerator, eventually paving the way for Altman to become Y Combinator’s president and later the cofounder and leader of OpenAI.

In his discussion with Cheung, Altman expressed that offering prescriptive advice to young founders about what unique advantages they should exploit is inherently difficult. Each entrepreneurial endeavor, he argued, is shaped by distinct circumstances—its product, technological foundation, industry timing, and the broader cultural environment in which it emerges. Because these variables differ so widely, the optimal advantage cannot be predetermined or copied from others’ success stories; rather, it must be discovered through the process of building itself. Reflecting on the early days of ChatGPT, Altman admitted that if someone had asked him at the project’s inception what enduring competitive edge it might possess, he would have had “no idea.” It was only through iterative experimentation, feature development, and continual refinement that new advantages began to surface organically. For example, ChatGPT’s now‑defining memory feature, which enables ongoing contextual understanding, arose as an unforeseen but ultimately durable benefit that strengthened the product’s long‑term value.

The phenomenon of young founders leaving college early—or skipping higher education altogether—has a storied history in Silicon Valley. Over the decades, iconic figures such as Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, Jack Dorsey, and Mark Zuckerberg have turned voluntary academic departures into symbols of bold entrepreneurial success. Their precedents continue to inspire a generation that views dropping out not as an act of rebellion, but as a legitimate strategic move toward realizing transformative ideas. Two primary forces appear to be driving the renewed momentum behind this choice. First, the cost of higher education has skyrocketed; in some institutions, the total expense of completing a four‑year degree now surpasses half a million dollars, creating an immense financial burden that discourages many from following the traditional route. Second, the acceleration of artificial intelligence development—combined with the rise of user‑friendly coding and prototyping tools—has dramatically lowered the technical barriers to launching a viable startup. In other words, it has never been easier for individuals with vision and determination, even without extensive engineering backgrounds, to turn their concepts into functioning products.

This shifting environment has already prompted new institutional responses. Earlier this year, the defense‑technology company Palantir introduced the Meritocracy Fellowship, a paid four‑month program designed specifically for recent high‑school graduates who have opted not to enroll in college. The initiative reflects a broader recognition that talent and creativity can surface outside conventional educational pipelines. Similarly, venture capital powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz remarked in a March blog post that the entrepreneurial battlefield has become significantly more egalitarian. The firm’s investors argued that conditions are currently more favorable than they have been in a decade for young founders—especially dropouts and recent graduates—to start their own companies. Data from Y Combinator supports this perception: according to partner Jared Friedman, whereas only about ten percent of YC’s cohort two years ago were still in college or had just graduated, the proportion has since risen to thirty percent. Friedman attributed this surge largely to advancements in artificial intelligence, noting that AI has made this period arguably the most promising in ten years for students and dropouts alike to embark on startup ventures.

Ultimately, Altman’s reflections capture a paradox emblematic of modern innovation culture. Even as he shoulders the immense responsibility of guiding one of the world’s most influential AI organizations, he cannot help but admire the freedom and creative latitude enjoyed by a generation of young technologists whose timing aligns perfectly with the explosive growth of their field. His remarks serve not only as acknowledgment of this unique moment in history but also as a challenge—both to established leaders and to aspiring founders—to recognize how unprecedented access to powerful tools and open networks can transform bold ideas into tangible reality.

Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-openai-envies-college-dropouts-stanford-devday-2025-10