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Fortune
Fortune
Emily Forlini

When OpenAI employees hit a roadblock, they email this address to ask CEO Sam Altman to solve it immediately

(Credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI—AFP via Getty Images)

Operating at AI speed is not easy. At OpenAI, a special process—and a magic word—helps employees instantly cut through layers of bureaucracy and clear bottlenecks slowing things down.

It’s called “friction.” And it has the power to supersede just about anything a team is doing, often carrying the force of CEO Sam Altman or President Greg Brockman with it.

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