Sam Altman, CEO of the tech company OpenAI that developed the chatbot ChatGPT, reported that he developed scurvy after entering the business due to long hours and neglecting his health, he writes The New Yorker in a large article-portrait.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAIPhoto: Steve Jennings / Getty images / Profimedia
The entrepreneur first entered the world of tech startups in 2004, when he was in his second year of studies at Stanford University. At the time he was working with his partner at the time, Nick Sivo, on the development of Loopt, a software to help geolocate friends.
Altman and Sivo obtained a $6,000 grant that allowed them to live for a few months in the city of Cambridge in the American state of Massachusetts, home to the famous MIT university, known for its brilliant minds in the field of technology.
Altman told The New Yorker that during that period he worked so hard that he developed scurvy, a disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C, usually caused by a lack of fruit and vegetable consumption.
How does scurvy manifest itself?
Symptoms of the disease include weakness, general fatigue, joint pain, bleeding gums or black and blue spots on the skin. Left untreated, the disease is fatal, but a full recovery requires only the resumption of normal doses of vitamin C.
Although rare today, it was extremely common in the Age of Exploration among sailors who embarked on expeditions lasting months or even years without fresh fruits and vegetables on board their ships.
Altman didn’t say how bad the symptoms became in his case, but he did say that Loopt didn’t really have the success he expected.
Although he sold the company in 2012 for $43.3 million, $5 million of which went to him personally, Altman said the move left him “pretty miserable.” He also reported that at that time he also broke up with Sivo, whom he thought he was going to marry.
Altman said he was helped during that time by being able to take a sabbatical to read books, travel and play video games, which he says did “wonders” for his mental health.
