Sam Altman says world wants 1000x more Software, So Programmer Salaries are Skyrocketing

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a Federal Reserve conference that programmers are seeing dramatic salary increases as artificial intelligence makes them more productive while global demand for software explodes.

Speaking at the Capital Framework for Large Banks conference on July 22, Altman said computer programmers are now "10 times more productive" with AI assistance, but rather than threatening their jobs, this productivity boost is driving up their earnings.

"The world wants a gigantic amount more software, 100 times maybe a thousand times more software," Altman said, explaining why programmer salaries are "going up extremely rapidly in Silicon Valley" despite AI's capabilities.

AI Transforms Software Development Speed

Altman illustrated the productivity revolution with a personal example. He described using an upcoming OpenAI model to complete a complex home automation programming task that would have taken him "days to do" before AI assistance.

The AI completed "almost all of the work" in just "5 minutes," he said. A year ago, "you would have paid a very high-end programmer 20 hours, 40 hours something like that to do" the same task. With AI, it cost "probably less than a dollar's worth of compute tokens."

"I have never seen a technology revolution quite like this," Altman said, calling the change "amazing" and "unprecedented."

He noted that knowledge work costing $10,000 a year ago now costs "a dollar or 10 cents." Looking ahead to 2030, he predicted "a software application written" for $100,000 might "cost literally 10 cents."

Salaries Rise Despite Productivity Gains

The counterintuitive result is that programmers are earning more, not less. He predicted programmers will "make three times as much," creating a situation where "the world will be happy because the world is running way more software [and] the programmers will be happy too."

This challenges common assumptions that AI productivity tools would depress wages in affected industries.

Programming Work Evolves, Doesn't Disappear

Altman said AI has "completely changed what it means to write software" and acknowledged that "what it means to be a doctor or a lawyer or a computer programmer clearly will change."

However, unlike other professions where AI might eliminate roles entirely, Altman has said customer support jobs will be "totally, totally gone". Programming appears to be transforming in ways that benefit practitioners.

The shift suggests programming work is moving toward higher-level problem-solving and architecture while AI handles routine coding tasks.

Warnings About Over-Reliance

Despite the positive outlook for programmers, Altman raised concerns about potential "emotional overreliance" on AI, particularly among young people who might feel they "can't make any decision" without AI input.

He called this trend "really bad and dangerous," even when AI provides superior advice, warning against "collectively deciding we're going to live our lives the way that the AI tells us."

Industry Implications

Altman's comments come as the tech industry debates AI's impact on software development jobs. While some studies suggest AI coding tools can slow experienced programmers in certain tasks, Altman's observations focus on the broader economic picture where demand growth outpaces productivity gains.

For current and aspiring programmers, the message appears clear: those who adapt to working with AI tools are likely to see both their productivity and earning potential increase significantly.