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Confronting Gen Z’s Existence Career crises, Billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says that in just 10 years, college graduates will be exploring the solar system — jobs that will pay sky-high salaries. The tech leader also says he’s jealous of young people because our early-career jobs seem “boring” in comparison.
As AI reshapes the workforce, many Gen Z college graduates are finding out the hard way that their degree doesn’t guarantee a smooth career launch.
Now, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — one of Silicon Valley’s biggest leaders driving the AI revolution — is admitting the elephant in the room is true: AI will eliminate some jobs entirely. However, the next decade could be the most exciting time in history to launch a career as a tech billionaire, especially for anyone who dreams of working in space.
Not only will they sink into sky-high salaries, but Altman says they’ll also “feel really bad for you and me that we have to do this really boring, old job and everything is cool.”
“In the year 2035, that graduating college student, if they still go to college, could go on a mission to explore the solar system in a spaceship in a completely new, exciting, super well-paying, super interesting job,” Altman told video journalist Cleo Abrams.
While it’s unclear how much space exploration will expand in the coming years, given NASA’s broader goal of reaching Mars by 2030 — aerospace engineers are growing faster than the national average for all jobs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And they bring home an enviable annual paycheck of more than $130,000.
How AI will reshape the workplace
Other tech pioneers have AI predictions that are more earth-based — but still attractive to workers. For example, billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said technology could dramatically reduce the length of the work week, thanks to people not being needed “for a lot of things.”
“What will the work be like? We only have to work two or three days a week?” The tech billionaire told Jimmy Fallon show tonight.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says AI is already giving its workers “superhuman” skills—something that will continue to grow as technology evolves.
“I’m surrounded by superhumans and super-intelligence, from my point of view, because they’re the best in the world at what they do. And they do what they do better than I can. And I’m surrounded by thousands of them. Yet it never made me think, all of a sudden, I’m not needed anymore,” he told Seeley separately. Great conversation Podcast series.
While Altman admits that his crystal ball remains foggy – and the true direction of AI is unclear – he is actually envious of Gen Z professionals starting their careers: “If I were 22 now and graduated college, I would feel like the luckiest kid in all of history,” he added to Abrams.
fate OpenAI has been reached for comment.
AI will create a one-man, billion-dollar company
After the launch of the OpenAI model, GPT-5, Altman announced that the world had access to the technology equivalent of “a team of PhD-level experts” in their pockets. And as a result, the CEO said it will be easier than ever for one person to create a business that employs “hundreds” of people — all with a great idea and mastery of AI tools.
“It’s possible to start a company now, that’s a one-person company that goes over a billion dollars, and more importantly, provides an amazing product and service to the world, and it’s like crazy,” he said.
Billionaire Mark Cuban has gone even further with his predictions, saying AI could give Elon Musk a run for his money as the world’s richest man.
“We haven’t seen the best or the craziest [AI is] will be able to,” Cuban said High performance podcast. “And not only do I think it’s going to create a trillionaire, but it could be a dude in the basement. That’s how crazy it could be.”
A version of this story was originally published Fortune.com On August 11, 2025.
More on the future of work:
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Forget the four-day work week, Elon Musk predicts you won’t have to work ‘in less than 20 years’
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has said that by 2045, ‘millions’ of people will be in space and robots will travel to the moon on our behalf.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
