Open AI’s Sam Altman Is Jumping Into Psychedelics. But Do We Need Him?

Sam Altman’s been through a lot in recent years. He brought Open AI’s ChatGPT into the mainstream, was subsequently fired by his own company, and then rehired as CEO almost as quickly as he was fired. 

And now Altman is crediting some of his genius to psychedelics. He even wants them legalized so you can benefit from them, too. 

Recently, as a guest on the Life in Seven Songs podcast, Altman described a week-long retreat in Mexico, where he consumed psychedelics as part of the experience. The entire affair, he said, left him feeling much calmer and relaxed in his approach to life – which was in overdrive for years up until that point. Before the retreat, he described himself as a “very anxious, unhappy person.”  

“If you had told me that one weekend-long retreat in Mexico was going to significantly change that, I would have said absolutely not,” Altman said, according to Fortune. “And it really did.”

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Now, in the true spirit of all things tech bro, Altman wants to take his insights from Mexico a step further. According to a recent Benzinga report, the AI guru is partnering with the start-up Journey Colab, which is developing prospective drugs, such as MDMA and LSD, into FDA-approved pharmaceuticals. The company also works with luxury rehab clinics to administer psychedelic therapies in a safe, controlled manner.

Of course, Altman isn’t the first tech CEO to try psychedelics, nor is he the first to rave about their mental health benefits. The world’s most recognizable tech bro, Elon Musk, has pushed for psychedelics reform for years. In fact, Musk’s openness about smoking weed and tripping balls triggered a year-long SpaceX safety audit from NASA.

Both Musk and Altman illustrate something critical about tech giants, psychedelics, and the greater good. Just as Altman attested to the healing powers of psychedelics, so, too, does Musk envision a near-future where psychedelic medicines are freely available. In their minds, they must share their discoveries with the world. Who else can properly spearhead this mind-altering revolution if not the barons of technology? Never mind that activists and Indigenous people have been consuming and promoting these medicines and sacraments longer than either Altman or Musk have been household names. 

Doubly ironic, too, that Altman’s quest to free humanity’s collective mind requires partnering with a pharmaceutical company, rather than with an activist group or a tribe. This isn’t surprising, considering his controversial decision to convert OpenAI from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity, despite the company’s initial mission to “help humanity.” At the end of the day, billionaires always turn to private corporations as the answer for everything, whether the question is activism, social responsibility, or helping humanity. 

Regardless, Altman and Musk perfectly illustrate why we shouldn’t fall into the psychedelic cure-all trap. Yes, these natural (and not-so-natural) substances can change the way we perceive ourselves and our world, and for the better. 

But also keep in mind that Musk purchased the world’s most arguably critical news-oriented social media platform – Twitter – and turned it into a cesspool of hate and bigotry. None of his kids like him or talk to him. He makes fun of his ex-girlfriend Grimes (the mother of his children) from an anonymous burner account. Basically, Musk isn’t the pinnacle of self-reflection or enlightenment. He espouses free speech ideals while banning journalists on his platform. He even threatened to ban accounts for spreading misinformation while himself spreading misinformation about the presidential election, Jewish people, and vaccines. 

Altman may be significantly more reserved than Musk, but he can still be a bit of a douche canoe, too. Ironically, Musk sued Altman’s OpenAI for breach of contract in March – as Musk was a founding board member at the company – and he claimed Altman abandoned OpenAI’s original mission by becoming a for-profit venture. (Musk would retract the lawsuit two months later, with no explanation.)

READ: Combining Ozempic with Psychedelic Compound May Treat Diabetes, Research Suggests

Further, Altman has been accused of abusive behavior, both on-the-clock and outside of work. Does that necessarily mean he’s a horrible dude 24/7? We don’t know, but that’s not the point here.

The point is that psychedelics are incredibly powerful, and they offer a promising new era of mental wellness. But psychedelics in and of themselves do not cause people to heal their traumas. They do not automatically make people self-reflect on their flaws, nor do they force people to fix those flaws. We should be incredibly suspicious of wealthy, powerful men sharing their psychedelic experiences with us, only to turn around and convert those priceless insights into profits. 

Basically, guys like Musk and Altman have no special clearances to talk about psychedelics or to push for their reforms more than anyone else does. In fact, I’d argue they’re the least qualified to speak on psychedelics, as they appear to have benefited from psychedelics the least. 

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