OpenAI will have a fully automated AI researcher by 2028.
Sam Altman, OpenAI · made Oct 28, 2025 · target Dec 2028 · Open
Unverified Only a secondary source was found; the original words were not read on a page.
As reported:internally, OpenAI is tracking toward achieving an intern-level research assistant by September 2026 and a fully automated "legitimate AI researcher" by 2028, CEO Sam Altman said during a livestream Tuesday.
The prediction
- Who
- Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI
- Made
- Oct 28, 2025
- Target
- Dec 31, 2028 (stated as "by 2028")
- Status
- Openin 2 years
- Source
- TechCrunch, reporting an OpenAI livestream Secondary: a report of what they said
More from Sam Altman
| Prediction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2025 | OpenAI will have an intern-level AI research assistant by September 2026.Open · Unverified · target Sep 2026 | Sep 2026by September 2026 | Agents | Open |
| Jun 10, 2025 | 2027 may see robots that can do tasks in the real world.Open · target Dec 2027 | Dec 20272027 | Robotics | Open |
| Jun 10, 2025 | 2026 will likely see AI systems that can figure out novel insights.Open · target Dec 2026 | Dec 20262026 | Science | Open |
| Jan 6, 2025 | In 2025 the first AI agents may join the workforce and materially change the output of companies.Due for review · target Dec 2025 | Dec 2025in 2025 | Agents | Due for review |
| Sep 23, 2024 | Superintelligence could arrive in a few thousand days.Open · target Dec 2032 | Dec 2032in a few thousand days (about 3,000 days, read as late 2032) | AGI | Open |
Related predictions
| Prediction | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 2025 | Making AI agents work like an employee will take about a decade.Open · Andrej Karpathy, Eureka Labs · target Oct 2035 | Oct 2035about a decade | Agents | Open |
| Jan 10, 2025 | In 2025 Meta and others will have an AI that can work like a midlevel engineer.Due for review · Unverified · Mark Zuckerberg, Meta · target Dec 2025 | Dec 2025probably in 2025 | Coding | Due for review |
Sources: the source linked on each prediction, checked weekly; outcomes judged on the evidence linked. Logos via logo.dev; trademarks belong to their owners.