San Francisco: Sam Altman has revealed that he is changing his sleep routine due to the rapid pace of artificial intelligence development, saying the latest advancements in coding tools are creating a sense of urgency to work more.

In a recent post on X, Altman said he is “switching to polyphasic sleep” — a pattern involving multiple short sleep cycles instead of one long stretch — because of the capabilities of the newly released GPT-5.5 model in Codex.

“I am switching to polyphasic sleep because GPT-5.5 in Codex is so good that I can’t afford to be sleeping for such long stretches and miss out on working,” he wrote.

Codex driving faster development cycles

The announcement comes shortly after OpenAI rolled out GPT-5.5 within its Codex environment, a tool designed to assist developers with writing, debugging, and optimising code.

According to industry observers, such tools are significantly accelerating software development cycles. Instead of reducing workloads, they are enabling developers to iterate faster, test more ideas, and push output levels higher than before.

Altman’s comments highlight a key shift in how AI is currently impacting work — not by replacing human effort outright, but by intensifying the pace at which work is done.

AI increasing urgency, not reducing work

For years, discussions around artificial intelligence have centred on whether automation would reduce the need for human labour. However, Altman’s remarks suggest a different reality is unfolding, at least in the short term.

By joking about cutting down on sleep to keep up with AI-driven productivity, Altman underscored how advanced tools may be raising expectations rather than easing workloads.

His comments reflect a growing sentiment in the tech industry that AI is acting as a “force multiplier,” allowing individuals and teams to achieve more in less time — but also increasing pressure to perform.

‘Post-AGI’ debate versus present reality

Altman also touched on the long-term speculation surrounding artificial general intelligence (AGI), a theoretical stage where machines could match or exceed human intelligence across tasks.

In his post, he referenced a potential “post-AGI” future where traditional work could disappear altogether, even suggesting that the economy might collapse if human labour becomes obsolete.

However, his current experience appears to contradict that distant scenario. Instead of less work, the immediate effect of AI tools like Codex seems to be an increase in activity and output.

This contrast highlights the gap between long-term theoretical discussions and present-day realities, where AI adoption is still evolving.

OpenAI tests Codex with NVIDIA

In a separate update, Altman revealed that OpenAI has been testing Codex at scale in collaboration with NVIDIA.

“We tried a new thing with NVIDIA to roll out Codex across a whole company, and it was awesome to see it work,” he wrote.

According to NVIDIA, its engineers have been using GPT-5.5 through the Codex platform for several weeks, reporting measurable productivity gains.

The system is being run on NVIDIA’s advanced GB200 NVL72 rack-scale infrastructure, designed to handle large-scale AI workloads efficiently.

Changing nature of work in AI era

Altman’s remarks come at a time when conversations about the future of work are intensifying globally. While concerns about job displacement remain, there is also growing evidence that AI is reshaping how work is performed rather than eliminating it entirely.

The idea of polyphasic sleep, though unusual, symbolises the intensity and competitiveness of the current AI race, where developers and companies are striving to keep pace with rapid technological advancements.

Conclusion

Sam Altman’s decision to adjust his sleep schedule may be partly tongue-in-cheek, but it reflects a deeper trend in the AI industry — one where innovation is accelerating faster than ever.

Rather than ushering in an era of reduced work, tools like Codex are, for now, pushing individuals to do more, faster. As AI continues to evolve, the balance between productivity, well-being, and sustainable work practices is likely to become an increasingly important conversation.