By Zara Irshad,Staff WriterDec 10, 2025 (SFChronicle.com)
Sam Altman has revealed that he relies on artificial intelligence to teach him to take care of his child, launching the internet into a heated debate about the repercussions of such technology on social development.
The CEO of OpenAI, the San Francisco company behind ChatGPT, made his late-night television debut on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” discussing ways in which he uses AI in his personal life. Altman, who is raising a baby boy with his partner Oliver Mulherin, noted that it has been particularly helpful with parenting.
“I cannot imagine having gone through, figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT,” he said during the episode, which aired Monday, Dec. 8. “Clearly, people did it for a long time — no problem.”
The comment prompted Fallon, who has two daughters of his own, to burst out laughing.
“Yes, it was possible,” the talk show host said.
“I have relied on it so much. I mean, it’s obviously the most important thing to happen in my life,” Altman continued. “So it’s top of my mind, and I use it all the time.”
Altman shared with Fallon how he uses ChatGPT to help him parent his son.NBC/Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Image
During Monday’s episode, Altman shared a story about feeling panic when another parent told him that their 6-month-old was already crawling. When he realized his own son, who was older, wasn’t crawling yet, he used ChatGPT to ease his mind.
“I ran to the bathroom and I was like, ‘Do I need to take my kid to the doctor tomorrow morning? Is this OK?’” he recalled, noting that ChatGPT assured him his son’s development was “normal.”
Many viewers were quick to raise concerns about Altman’s comments online, pointing out the dangers of relying on AI in such a way.
“Oh we’re so screwed,” wrote X user Benjamin Day.
“We’re gonna end up with a whole generation without critical thinking skills if everyone does that,” X user Akash Maniam posted.
On Reddit, others turned attention to Fallon’s lack of pushback, criticizing him for not questioning Altman more about some of ChatGPT’s more controversial features.
Instead, Fallon’s interview with Altman remained lighthearted, with the tech mogul taking a moment to explain what ChatGPT is for viewers and demonstrating how it “gets to know you.”
The talk show host veered away from discussion of the various controversies surrounding the company and its technology, from copyright infringement and data usage lawsuits to safety concerns.
Dec 10, 2025
Staff Writer
Zara Irshad is the Chronicle’s Arts & Entertainment Engagement Reporter. She joined the Chronicle as a summer 2023 intern for the Datebook team. She is a recent graduate of UC San Diego, where she studied communications. She previously interned for the San Diego Union-Tribune and wrote for her campus newspaper, the Guardian, where she served as editor-in-chief. Irshad was part of the honors program for her major and double-minored in world literature and film studies.
Jesus,
The human race is doomed with these chuckle nut clowns having any kind of influence.