Psychedelics have always been in the background of tech circles in Silicon Valley, and yet another tech CEO has spoken up about their experiences with them.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said that psychedelics have been transformative for his life. “Have you had any psychedelic experiences at Burning Man?” Altman was asked in an interview. “Yes,” he replied. “Were those transformative for you and like how you think about your work or your life?” the interviewer went on. “I think psychedelic experiences can be totally incredible and the ones that have been life changing for me have been ones where you like go travel to a guide and it’s like a very, it’s like very much psychedelic medicine. The Burning Man version has been, I would say, less transformative the ones that are guided.” Altman said.
“This was all like a long time ago,” Altman went on. “This was like during my off time mostly. But I would say it was one of the most transformative things in my life. I think I used to be like a very anxious, unhappy person. And if you had told me that like a one weekend long retreat in Mexico was gonna significantly change that I would have said “absolutely not” but it really did,” he added.
Altman had sold his first startup named Loopt in 2012. He’d then taken a year off, and even stayed in an Ashram. It’s unclear when Altman experimented with psychedelics, but it appears that he has had multiple experiences with them, including at Burning Man, which is also popular among other tech leaders like Elon Musk, Eric Schmidt and Larry Page. Altman also seems to have had a guided session with psychedelics in Mexico, which he seems to credit with fixing his anxiety and unhappiness.
The legality of psychedelics, of course, varies across countries. Some countries ban them outright, while others allow their uses for medicinal purposes. Even in tech, there are differences in opinion — leaders like Steve Jobs had tried LSD and said said it was a “profound experience”, but VCs like Marc Andreessen have often warned founders against psychedelic use, saying that they can be dangerous for their ambition and careers. Like with many things, psychedelics can impact different people differently, and while it’s possibly not wise to try them out because a tech CEO speaks highly of them, psychedelics do seem to be popular among many top leaders in Silicon Valley.