ChatGPT's 2025 strategy | Peter Thiel | Apple exec meeting
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Apple executive team meeting agenda
August 5, 2007
[The source of the handwriting on the document is uncertain — it may be Scott Forstall, then head of iPhone software at Apple.]
[This document is from Epic v. Apple (2021).]
Further reading from Brad Stone for The New York Times: ‘Fake Steve’ Blogger Comes Clean (August 6, 2007)
Previously: Palm’s CEO emails Steve Jobs (August 24, 2007)
Previously: Bertrand Serlet to Steve Jobs: "Fine, let's enable Cocoa Touch apps" (October 2, 2007)
Previously: Steve Jobs’s agenda for Apple’s Top 100 meeting (October 24, 2010)
Mark Zuckerberg emails Peter Thiel
On Feb 12, 2013, at 12:10 AM, Mark Zuckerberg wrote:
Related to my update about the board below, we should check in at some point on your plans for our board over the next 2-3 years. I know you just sold the majority of your Facebook stock, so I'm not sure how you're thinking about this right now. I find you very helpful and I want to make sure I understand how you're thinking about this. Let's discuss when we get dinner later this month.
From: Peter Thiel
Sent: 2/12/2013 2:32:08 PM
To: Mark Zuckerberg
Subject: Re: Board Update
Mark,
At the time of the IPO, I committed to staying on the board for at least two years because I felt that I could add a lot of value (based on my long-term history with the company) and because I am very grateful to Facebook on many levels. And while I have sold most of my Facebook stock, I still have a position that is very large in the scheme of these things (I think Breyer and Andreessen are somewhat larger, but the only two outside directors where this is the case).
That being said, I also agree with you that a large board is pretty unwieldy (and I think the board is functioning much less well with 8 people than it did with 4 or 5) and so we should discuss whether this might be a good time for me to transition off. Let's try and talk a bit about it later tonight, or maybe before or after the board meeting tomorrow.
I'll see you later today,
Peter
Sent from my iPad
[This document is from FTC v. Meta (2025).]
Previously: Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, Millennials, and predictions for 2030 (December 31, 2019)
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Draft: OpenAI’s H1 2025 strategy for ChatGPT
December 2, 2024
[Excerpt #1:] Who are our competitors?
We think about competition in two ways. First, there's the consumer Al chatbot space: Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Meta Al. With [ HYPERLINK \I "_l6ubp9yx5tei" \h ]we are leading here, but we can't rest. We need the best free model, best Ul, and strongest brand. Looking ahead to 2025, [REDACTED] poses the biggest threat due to their ability to embed equivalent functionality across their products (e.g. [REDACTED] without facing the business model cannibalization risks that Google does.
Then there's the broader game: building a super-assistant and then [REDACTED]. Now we're up against search engines, browsers, even interactions with real people. This one isn't a head-on match. It's about solving more and more use-cases and gradually pulling users in. That's why we don't call our product a search engine, a browser, or an OS — it's just ChatGPT.
[Excerpt #2:] Ship a [REDACTED] by 2026
Today, ChatGPT is in our lives through existing form factors — our website, phone, and desktop apps. But our vision for ChatGPT is to help you with all of your life, no matter where you are. At home, it should help answer questions, play music, and suggest recipes. On the go, it should help you get to places, find the best restaurants, or catch up with friends. At work, it should help you take meeting notes, or prepare for the big presentation. And on solo walks, it should help you reflect and wind down. We want ChatGPT to be [REDACTED]. The best Al is the one that's right there with you.
[Excerpt #3:] Cool and ahead.
Our brand should resonate across all key user segments but especially [REDACTED]. For [REDACTED] ChatGPT should be cool. Right now, it’s useful but not cool. (We might even [REDACTED]). The path to being cool is being part of trends on social, full stop.
[Full document:]
[This document is from U.S. v. Google (2024) (1:20-cv-03010).]
Twitter link: Excerpt #1, Excerpt #2
Threads link: Excerpt #1, Excerpt #2
Previously: Sam Altman emails Elon Musk: “The mission would be to create the first general Al and use it for individual empowerment—ie, the distributed version of the future that seems the safest” (June 24, 2015)
Previously: Ilya Sutskever emails Elon Musk: “You are concerned that Demis could create an AGI dictatorship. So do we” (September 20, 2017)
Previously: Microsoft CTO: "Thoughts on OpenAI" (June 12, 2019)
Thanks for reading!
-Internal Tech Emails
Sent from my iPad