‘Too powerful’: Sam Altman reveals why he deleted TikTok, says ‘it was like a drug’

We’ve all been there. You start watching a Reel or a Short, and before you know it, you’ve lost hours scrolling through one video after another. Turns out, social media addiction is a reality not just for regular users but even for the people building these apps.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed in a recent podcast that he became addicted to TikTok while working on the company’s AI video generation app, Sora. The app was seen as a potential AI-powered social media rival to the likes of TikTok and Instagram, but it was eventually shut down earlier this year as OpenAI deprioritised certain projects ahead of its IPO.

Altman revealed how he prepared to build Sora during a new episode of the How to Start a Startup podcast. The OpenAI chief said he immersed himself in TikTok to understand the kind of user experience he wanted to avoid creating.

“When we were building the Sora app, I made myself get addicted to TikTok because I wanted to learn. I was like, you know, I had never really used it before. I mean, people would send me a TikTok or whatever, but I never got sucked into it. And I was like, I really don’t want to build something that is going to have that kind of thing, absorb people’s time,” Altman said.

Sam Altman admits he got addicted to TikTok

Altman went on to describe how he initially planned to use the short-video app for around 10 minutes before going to bed. However, before he realised it, those sessions would stretch into hours and, on some occasions, continue through the night.

He also recalled spending nearly three hours scrolling through TikTok one Saturday afternoon before realising the app had become a problem.

“And then I thought I could control it. I was like, ‘Oh, you know, it’s actually kind of fun, but I only use it for like 10 minutes to wind down before bed and I’m totally in control of it.’ And then it was like an hour one night, and then some Saturday afternoon I was on the couch for like three hours,” Altman added. “And I was like, this is really not what I thought the iPhone was supposed to be about. Now I’m really enjoying it in the moment, like a drug, but I can tell it’s bad for me.”

Although Altman managed to cut back his TikTok usage to five to 10 minutes a night, he said he eventually had to delete the app altogether.

Altman also revealed that he has turned off all notifications on his phone, including those from messaging apps, calling it a “big life upgrade”.

He also spoke about OpenAI’s upcoming hardware products, saying that while he believes the ChatGPT-powered devices will be “incredible”, “empowering” and “helpful”, he is also certain they will be misused by some people in ways that could make their “lives worse in ways we can’t imagine.”