meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Today, Explained

OpenAI owes us $180 billion

Today, Explained

Vox

News, Daily News, Politics

4.310.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

OpenAI's founders promised its tech would benefit humanity. Now that it has split into a giant charity and a for-profit company, that mission has gotten complicated. This episode was produced by Danielle Hewitt, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Andrea López-Cruzado, engineered by Patrick Boyd and David Tatasciore, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. This episode was produced in partnership with Vox's Future Perfect. Disclosure: Vox Media is one of several publishers that have signed partnership agreements with OpenAI. Our reporting remains editorially independent. Photo Illustration by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Chat GPT.

0:02.0

You either love it or you hate it, am I right?

0:04.0

You love it because it tells you why your back keeps doing that.

0:07.0

You hate it because it uses a boatload of fresh water to do so.

0:10.0

Or maybe you hate it because after OpenAI trained chat on centuries of humanity's creative labor,

0:16.0

its leader, Sam Altman, said he wants to sell it right back to us.

0:20.0

We see a future where intelligence is a utility like electricity or water, and people buy it

0:29.6

from us on a meter and use it for whatever they want to use it for.

0:34.4

Cool. But wait, Chad GPT's parent company OpenAI has the potential to do tons of good, too?

0:40.4

Turns out they've got $180 billion of charitable monies to give away to humanity, to help our cause.

0:46.8

That's more than double what the Gates Foundation has to play with.

0:50.0

OpenAI owes us $180 billion.

0:53.5

But are we going to get it?

0:55.1

On today, Explain from Box.

0:56.7

Here we go.

0:59.6

Once upon a dismal day, Bob's ice cream van looked gloomy and gray.

1:04.4

Although he had big ambitions, his socials lacked creative vision.

1:08.4

Ugh, that bad?

1:09.5

Maybe vamp it up a tad?

1:11.1

I have an idea.

1:12.8

Bob launched Canva and got into gear.

1:15.3

Create the video in the vampire team and make it the funny as I mean.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.