To keep himself alive longer, Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence lab OpenAI, is taking a diabetes drug called metformin. OpenAI developed ChatGPT, a recently popular chatbot. Metformin is a decades-old drug prescribed by doctors to millions of people with diabetes.
The World Health Organization lists this drug as an essential medicine that every strong modern healthcare system should have. In fact, Altman is not the only one who hopes to use this drug to make himself live longer. Many Silicon Valley “biohackers” take metformin as part of an antiaging regimen.
Some studies suggest the pills, which sell for about $0.10 to $0.20, can slow the effects of aging, reduce cognitive and vision loss, and protect against cancer and dementia. In addition to taking metformin, Altman says his anti-aging regimen includes “healthy eating, exercise and getting enough sleep.” This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned his health habits, having detailed his regimen in a 2018 blog post. He wrote at the time that he avoided sugar or any particularly spicy food
Because these foods can “worse” his digestion or cause inflammation. He drinks protein shakes, even though he “hates” them, and wakes up with a “big shot” of espresso. He also lifts weights three times a week and does occasional high-intensity interval training. In his blog post, he described it as an exercise program that made him “feel his best overall.” His sleep routine includes a “cold, dark, quiet room,” which he says improves sleep quality. If the room isn’t cold enough, he sometimes uses a chili pad. Whenever he suffered from insomnia, he took “low doses of sleeping pills” or “very low doses of marijuana”. When he gets sick or gets worse, he calls his mom, dermatologist Connie Gibstine. “I have to assure him that he doesn’t have meningitis or lymphoma, he’s just stressed out,” Gistine said in an interview. One day, his longevity efforts may include a treatment from the antiaging biotech company Retro Biosciences. The startup’s mission is to “extend healthy human lifespan by 10 years.”
The company uses genetic engineering and plasma exchange to make cells younger, according to MIT Technology Review. Altman has secretly invested $180 million in Retro Biosciences’ death-delaying therapy.He joins Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey in investing in those working to extend lifespan. Therapeutics biotech startup billionaire.