# AI Can Fail Through Loss of Control or Concentration of Power by Sam Altman > "I really think there are two ways this technology can go very wrong. I mean there's many specifics we could talk about but if we think about the kind of general directions that we should be worried about, one which has gotten a lot of attention recently is that there could be a loss of control to AI and that we build something that we don't have sufficiently aligned to human values and that allows people to stay in control of the future forever. And so we need to get safety right. But the other way things can go wrong is too much concentration of power. And there's been a lot of fear here where okay if we do too much to restrict this technology in the name of safety and we end up with a small number of companies or people or perhaps one country that have too much power over this. That also is a way that this can go horribly wrong because people are shut out of the kind of power and benefits and control and agency over the future they should have." > **— Sam Altman**, *Politico Decoded, October 5, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Interview and timestamped transcript:** [Politico Decoded, October 5, 2026](https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/2985049/#t-87) — The transcript attributes the complete continuous passage to Altman at 01:27. - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon|Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon]] — preserves the full event chronology, source classification and surrounding context. The Reminder uses one complete continuous passage without brackets or ellipses. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Political Party That Inherits Super Intelligence in 2028|The Political Party That Inherits Super Intelligence in 2028]] - **Research index:** [[research/Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon|Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Sam Altman|Sam Altman]] - [[wiki/OpenAI|OpenAI]] - [[wiki/Human Control of AI|Human Control of AI]] - [[wiki/AI Governance|AI Governance]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "I really think there are two ways this technology can go very wrong. I mean there's many specifics we could talk about but if we think about the kind of general directions that we should be worried about, one which has gotten a lot of attention recently is that there could be a loss of control to AI and that we build something that we don't have sufficiently aligned to human values and that allows people to stay in control of the future forever. And so we need to get safety right. But the other way things can go wrong is too much concentration of power. And there's been a lot of fear here where okay if we do too much to restrict this technology in the name of safety and we end up with a small number of companies or people or perhaps one country that have too much power over this. That also is a way that this can go horribly wrong because people are shut out of the kind of power and benefits and control and agency over the future they should have." — Sam Altman, Politico Decoded, October 5, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-sam-altman-loss-control-concentration-power ```