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Sal Khan's Secret AI Deal
16 May
Summary
- Sal Khan initially declined OpenAI's early collaboration offers.
- He was among the first to see GPT-4's advanced capabilities.
- Khan Academy planned an AI tutor launch alongside GPT-4.

Sal Khan, the universally respected founder of Khan Academy, demonstrated his integrity by initially declining early invitations from OpenAI to explore ChatGPT in 2021. At that time, OpenAI was a nascent research lab, and its models showed limited intelligence.
By the summer of 2022, a more compelling offer arrived from OpenAI's co-founders, including Sam Altman. Under an NDA, Khan and his chief learning officer, Kristen DiCerbo, were among the select few to witness the power of GPT-4, a model with capabilities far exceeding its predecessors. Khan immediately recognized its profound implications for education.
OpenAI proposed a joint launch: GPT-4's public debut in six months, coinciding with Khan Academy's release of its own AI-powered tutoring bot. This collaboration aimed to leverage cutting-edge AI for educational purposes, signaling a significant step forward for online learning.