About the Talk:

Sam Altman, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenAI and David Kirtley, CEO and Founder of Helion convened at the OpenAI office among a small group of OpenAI Forum members to discuss the future of energy.

About the Speakers:

Dr. David Kirtley is founder and CEO at Helion, a privately funded fusion electricity company creating the world’s first fusion generator. He is passionate about inventing and leading teams to develop disruptive technologies to improve access to energy, reduce carbon emissions, and provide a better future for the following generations. Dr. Kirtley is a fellow of the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Defense. He is a leading authority on advanced fuel fusion generators, plasma-based in-space propulsion systems, and space reentry architectures. Dr. Kirtley has graduate degrees in Nuclear, Plasma, and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has over 100 publications, 60+ patents and has been pursuing advanced fusion systems since the late 1990s.

Sam Altman is the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI. Sam was president of the early-stage startup accelerator Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019. In 2015, Sam co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit research lab with the mission to build general-purpose artificial intelligence that benefits all humanity. The company remains governed by the nonprofit and its original charter today.