Recommendations you can check.
Co-founder and CEO of OpenAI; previously president of Y Combinator.
11 things
dotSoftware OpenAI
dot is my favorite openai product so far! it is amazing to me that each day it feels noticably better as it learns more of my workflow and style. having it do the stuff i don't like doing--and usually just builds up as a gravity well of dread--has me very happy.
2026-10-02·x.com ↗
Ocarina of TimeOther Nintendo
ocarina of time remake is the best news in a long time.
2026-09-09·x.com ↗
Ocarina of Time remakeOther Nintendo
ocarina of time remake is the best news in a long time.
2026-09-09·x.com ↗
SuperintelligenceBook Nick Bostrom
(Incidentally, Nick Bostrom's excellent book "Superintelligence" is the best thing I've seen on this topic. It is well worth a read.)
'Machine intelligence, part 1', his argument that superhuman machine intelligence is a serious risk; an aside naming the book he thinks is best on it.
2015-02-25·blog.samaltman.com ↗
You and Your ResearchOther Richard Hamming
Richard Hamming gave this talk in March of 1986. [1] It's one of the best talks I've ever read and has long impacted how I think about spending my time.
He reposted the full text of Hamming's 1986 Bell Labs talk on his own blog, with this note at the top.
2014-06-29·blog.samaltman.com ↗
Emfit QS+ActiveHardware Emfit
I've found the only thing I'm consistent with are in the set-it-and-forget-it category, and I really like the Emfit QS+Active
His 'Productivity' post, listing the habits and gear he uses; this section covers sleep and physical factors.
2018-04-10·blog.samaltman.com ↗
An Opinionated Guide to ML ResearchOther John Schulman
This from John Schulman is worth reading: http://joschu.net/blog/opinionated-guide-ml-research.html
'Researchers and Founders', on the traits the two roles share; he links Schulman's guide on picking research problems. The guide is named on the page only by its URL.
2020-06-19·blog.samaltman.com ↗
full spectrum LED lightHardware
I use a full spectrum LED light most mornings for about 10-15 minutes while I catch up on email. It's great—if you try nothing else in here, this is the thing I'd try. It's a ridiculous gain for me.
His 'Productivity' post, listing the habits and gear he uses; this section covers sleep and physical factors. The specific lamp is named only by an Amazon link.
2018-04-10·blog.samaltman.com ↗
Mountain DewOther
i will be unavailable november 5 and 6; need to find a case of mountain dew.
2026-09-09·x.com ↗
Chili PadHardware Chili Technology
I use a Chili Pad to be cold while I sleep if I can't get the room cold enough, which is great but loud (I set it up to have the cooler unit outside my room).
His 'Productivity' post, listing the habits and gear he uses; this section covers sleep and physical factors.
2018-04-10·blog.samaltman.com ↗
The EnduranceBook Caroline Alexander
I'm reading The Endurance and "by endurance we conquer" (Ernest Shackleton's family motto) struck me as a great piece of startup wisdom.
A short post drawing a startup lesson from Shackleton; he says only that he is reading the book, with no verdict on it.
2013-03-28·blog.samaltman.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.