OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Monday called Chinese AI startup DeepSeek's R1 an "impressive model" and pledged his company would "deliver much better models" in the future. Why it matters: DeepSeek's announcement that its new model that's cheaper than U.

Sam Altman just got hit from two sides at once. The OpenAI CEO, who also chairs the nuclear startup Oklo Inc., saw his lesser-known company take a nosedive on Jan. 27 and 28, losing 26% of its value.