OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is still very much a car guy

A TikToker said he met Sam Altman during a California car meet. @2023coyote50 on TikTok, Jeff Chiu/AP Sam Altman: Silicon Valley leader, Elon Musk rival, and bona fide gearhead. On Sunday, a TikToker posted a video showing a large block of sports and exotic cars — from Ford Mustangs and an Acura NSX to a Pagani Utopia and a Koenigsegg Regera — parked on the side of a winding road. And a few feet away from a silver Lexus LFA stood the OpenAI CEO. The gathering was unplanned, the TikToker, Miguel Godinez, told Business Insider. He and eight friends had taken their sports cars for a drive through the canyon near Lake Berryessa, just Northeast of Napa, California, when they pulled over at a gas station. Then, he said, "a bunch of cars I've never seen" joined."We talked for a minute, and he was super nice and chill," Godinez, whose channel posts mainly sports car content, said about Altman. "I felt like he was a normal person driving his car just like us, with the same hobbies." Altman and OpenAI didn't respond to a request for comment (they also didn't tell us which car Altman thought was the coolest).This isn't the first time we've seen Altman with the Regera, which can cost up to $4.6 million. In April 2024, an onlooker took a video of the exotic car driving through city streets in Napa, California. Months later, when he zoomed in on the driver's seat, he spotted Altman behind the wheel. Godinez said he wasn't sure which exotic vehicle Altman was driving; though, the Regera was the same color as the one spotted in 2024, and the exotic car company only made 80 units for the entire world. Or maybe Altman was driving the Utopia, which also only has about 260 siblings in the world. Either way, it's pretty safe to say Altman was driving something pretty cool. And, based on the way he gawked at the Lexus LFA, the TikToks serve as proof that even Silicon Valley's elite can still get a little starstruck at a cool set of wheels. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Ben Shimkus is a reporter for the Business News desk. He writes about cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's also held staff writing positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU with a Master's in journalism in 2024. Email Ben at bshimkus@insider.com or message him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41. OpenAI