Sam Altman says 4 years could be too long for college: ‘The way the world has evolved, college just shouldn’t be as long as it is’

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has no regrets about dropping out of Stanford.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks two years in college was just right for him.

Altman said he thinks that maybe four years might be too long for others, too.

Altman shared other thoughts and advice, including why it's often a waste to try to be taken seriously.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said two years in college was "the exact right amount of time" for him.

It may be for others, too.

"I think I learned a lot, and it would have been like vastly diminishing returns," Altman recently told investor Cory Levy during a surprise appearance at Internapalooza, Levy's networking summit for tech interns.

Altman said the four-year college experience may not be necessary in today's world.

"I've sort of thought that maybe the way the world has evolved, college just shouldn't be as long as it is, but it was still great to meet people and kind of like live on your own and get to work on projects," he said.

In 2005, the future OpenAI chief dropped out of Stanford after two years to cofound Loopt, an app that allowed users to share their location with friends.

Loopt went on to be part of the first Y Combinator batch, which paved the way for Altman's eventual rise to running the famed startup incubator himself.

Altman said two more years of college "would have not been that great." "So, I was very happy with how it went, but you don't get to run the experiment twice," he said.

"I know a lot of people now who have not gone to college at all and done great." Altman's views align with those of others in tech, most notably his mentor and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel , who supports a fellowship that awards $250,000 to young people to skip college entirely or at least take a break from their studies.

Altman's career advice The OpenAI chief had additional advice for those in the audience, including why it's often a waste for young entrepreneurs to try to be taken seriously.