Sam Altman says he got ‘addicted’ to TikTok, including a Saturday afternoon where he scrolled ‘for like 3 hours’

Even Sam Altman is guilty of getting sucked into TikTok. “I deleted TikTok because it was just too powerful,” he said during a recent episode of the “Relentless” podcast.

The OpenAI CEO said he forced himself to learn more about TikTok as the AI giant began building (and ultimately abandoned) a TikTok-esque AI-generated video social media app called Sora. “I made myself get addicted to TikTok, because I wanted to just learn,” Altman said.

Altman said he soon found out why TikTok has become known for its recommendation algorithm, widely regarded as one of the best of its kind. “I really thought it was great,” he said. “And then I thought I could control it.

I was like, ‘Oh, it’s actually kind of fun,’ but I only use it for 10 minutes to wind down before bed, and I’m totally in control of it.

And then some Saturday afternoon, I was on the couch for like three hours.” Altman said he knew his TikTok habit was “bad for me,” but he was “really enjoying it in the moment like a drug.” He said he was able to rein in his usage before ultimately abandoning the app entirely. “I briefly got it back under control, and I was down to five, 10 minutes a night, whatever, like a little wind down before bed,” he said. “Then I was just like, enough.” OpenAI similarly quit its social media venture cold turkey, too.

In March, OpenAI announced it would scrap the Sora app to focus on its core goals, abandoning the concept after roughly six months.

OpenAI announced Sora to great fanfare, and even after some headaches, the app led to a historic partnership with Disney.

Still, video generation sucked up too much compute in OpenAI’s eyes at a time when its archrival, Anthropic, and other hyperscalers were pushing the generative AI race even further.

Altman discussed his TikTok foray in the context of how OpenAI is thinking about its secretive family of AI-powered devices made in consultation with legendary Apple designer Jony Ive, which it has said it will unveil before the end of the year.

The OpenAI CEO said in November that he wants the device to cut through the noise of notifications that make using devices like the iPhone, which Ive originally helped design, feel like “walking through Times Square.” Last August, OpenAI said the “goal” of services like ChatGPT was not to endlessly suck users in. “Instead of measuring success by time spent or clicks, we care more about whether you leave the product having done what you came for,” the company said.