# The Takeoff Has Started and Humanity Is Close to Digital Superintelligence by Sam Altman > “We are past the event horizon; the takeoff has started. Humanity is close to building digital superintelligence, and at least so far it’s much less weird than it seems like it should be.” > **— Sam Altman**, *“The Gentle Singularity,” June 10, 2025* ## Sources and Context - **Primary source:** [Sam Altman, “The Gentle Singularity”](https://blog.samaltman.com/the-gentle-singularity) — verifies the wording, attribution and immediate source setting. - **Interpretive context:** Altman’s opening pair of sentences deliberately juxtaposes an extreme technical claim with the ordinary phenomenology of living through its beginning. The full opening restores the event-horizon and takeoff metaphors that explain why the proximity of digital superintelligence may feel less dramatic than older singularity narratives implied. - **Editorial treatment:** The complete opening paragraph is reproduced without insertion or omission. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Cannot Un-Strike the Match|We Cannot Un-Strike the Match]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Sam Altman|Sam Altman]] - [[wiki/Superintelligence|Superintelligence]] - [[wiki/Technological Singularity|Technological Singularity]] - [[wiki/OpenAI|OpenAI]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We are past the event horizon; the takeoff has started. Humanity is close to building digital superintelligence, and at least so far it’s much less weird than it seems like it should be.” — Sam Altman, “The Gentle Singularity,” June 10, 2025 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-sam-altman-takeoff-started-digital-superintelligence ```