There seems to be a growing consensus in Silicon Valley about raising kids. Be it Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or now OpenAI CEO Sam Altman – they all seemingly want their children to spend less time online – the same leaders who sell smartphones or digital products to consumers around the world. Sam Altman has stated that he doesn’t want his child to grow up to be an iPad kid – a label used for children who spent hours on the Apple device from a young age.
Altman admitted that he was concerned about children who get glued to iPads. He said on the Mostly Human podcast, “When I watch kids just a little bit older than mine that you cannot take the iPad away from,” The OpenAI CEO added, “that I feel very strongly about.”
Sam Altman and his husband, Oliver Mulherin, welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in February 2025 via surrogacy. Previously, Altman had revealed that he used ChatGPT to get advice on how to raise his kid.
Sam Altman doesn’t want his kid to use ChatGPT just yet
ChatGPT is arguably the most popular AI chatbot globally. The AI is often used by children and students when it comes to doing homework or learning new things. However, Altman reckoned that he was in no rush to have his child use his own product. He explained, “[He’d] rather be on the late end of what’s reasonable there, not the early end.”
Instead, the OpenAI CEO wants his child to spend more time outside at an early age. Sam added, “I want him to play in the dirt for now.”
Sam Altman is not the only leader from Silicon Valley to have such views on raising children. Anthropic Co-founder Jack Clark recently revealed that he restricts his toddler’s access to YouTube as the platform’s algorithm freaked him out.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates delayed giving his children mobile phones until they were 14, while Apple’s Steve Jobs reportedly kept his children away from iPads.
Sam Altman wants more AI in schools
Though the OpenAI chief was not against technology for children. He predicted that we may have a future where students get a lot more AI tools that could help accelerate learning via “intense, personalised, one-on-one tutoring with AI.
Altman did remain cautious about such an approach. He added, “That’s great, but you can also imagine a lot of worlds where it goes wrong.”
Some schools have already begun using AI to teach kids. One such school in the US promises that a student will earn $1 million by the time they graduate, or the parents receive a full refund.
