Why Does Sam Altman Want to Kill Slack?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raised some eyebrows recently when he suggested that the world needs an “AI-native platform” that will eventually replace Slack – which he claims creates a kind of “fake work”.

Speaking at the recent Progress Press Conference with Tyler Cowen, Altman argued that today’s collaboration tools generate far too many notifications, threads, and micro-tasks disguised as productivity. In turn, Altman believes that future workplace conversation platforms should be built around AI agents that actively do work for people instead of bombarding them with updates.

His comments have landed with a particular thud, given that OpenAI is or has been a long-time user of Slack. The two companies have spent years publicly highlighting their integrations, and Slack is often mentioned as a prime example of how teams usually collaborate with ChatGPT. So why the sudden shift in tone?

The answer is less to do with Altman’s opinion on Slack as a company, but instead the messaging-first model that Slack represents. And yet, in a twist of irony, Slack may actually be better positioned than almost anyone to build the future Altman is describing. Let’s take a closer look.

Slack Isn’t Standing Still

In the interview, Altman detailed that while there are some positives with Slack, it has become a downside to his daily work. “There are positives about Slack, but I kind of dread the first hour of the morning or last time before I go to bed, where I’m dealing with this explosion of Slack. It creates a lot of fake work.

“I suspect there is something new to build that is going to replace a lot of the current sort of office productivity suite – whatever you think of, like Docs, Slides, emails, Slack, whatever. That will be sort of the AI-driven version of all of these things.”

Despite the perception that Slack is just a “chat app”, the product has been evolving rapidly in the last 18 months, with many new features addressing the pain points that Altman is criticizing.

Slack AI, for example, is designed to cut straight through the message overload, introducing long thread summaries, channel recaps, important update highlights, and a simple workplace search feature where you can use natural language. 

The platform is also transitioning from a communication tool to more of an orchestration layer. Workflow Builder, which has long been considered a simple automation feature, is now an all-in-one automation platform. It can trigger events based on data from Salesforce and other connected systems while handling repetitive tasks.

And then there’s Salesforce, whose Data Cloud, security model, and Agentforce platform give Slack unique advantages. Slack sits directly on top of this infrastructure. If the workplace is moving toward agent-native workflows, Slack is already plugged into one of the most sophisticated enterprise AI ecosystems in the world.

Laurence Fitch, Founder of Slack-first consultancy Bryd, echoes these sentiments, saying: “Slack is sticky because it sits at the intersection of people, knowledge and tools. It is not just chat and becomes the operating layer for a company. Channels map to teams and clients, decisions live in threads, and the integrations pull in the systems that matter. 

“Most organizations we work with at Bryd end up treating Slack as the place where work starts, not just where messages are sent, take the use case of Cebu Pacific airlines who’ve created a flight operations center in Slack connecting multiple systems into the interface.”

So when Altman says a future workplace needs a system where agents do more heavy lifting, it’d be fair to say that Slack is already working on it.

Is OpenAI a Future Slack Competitor?

While Slack AI’s progress is positive, there’s certainly no room to coast – the competitive pressure is still intense, and Microsoft remains the biggest player.

Microsoft Teams boasts an estimated user base of more than 280 million people compared to Slack’s 20 million users. While Slack may at some point have a better product, Microsoft has the advantage when it comes to distribution. Teams is already bundled and pre-installed with Microsoft 365, so the default option is already there.

Beyond teams, Slack also faces competition from a new wave of AI-first productivity tools. Notion continues to push aggressively into the AI-powered workspace and automation space, while Zoom is repositioning itself as a workplace platform with its own AI Companion. Other startups like Glean and Rewind are also making ripples in this space.

But the one to look out for most on the horizon is OpenAI. During the interview, Altman hinted at OpenAI developing its own solution, which would likely also have its own distribution power given how many people use OpenAI daily. Slack is well-positioned, but there will be significant challenges along the way.

Why Did Sam Altman Say This?

Although his words were strong, Altman’s critique looks less like a Slack attack and more like market and narrative shaping. If OpenAI plans to launch agent-native tooling, framing Slack as outdated helps define the “problem” they want to solve. It also sparks the conversation OpenAI wants people to have that maybe the future doesn’t revolve around message feeds at all.

Meanwhile, long-standing rival and Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in following Altman’s comments. Musk responded by pointing out that OpenAI is now a direct competitor to Microsoft Corporation and warned that Microsoft allowing Slack-style paradigms to persist could be “insanely suicidal” for their productivity business. 

Calling Slack “fake work” also oversimplifies reality. Slack is one of the few platforms already evolving away from that paradigm. Far from being stuck in the past, Slack is building many of the capabilities Altman imagines, often faster than its rivals.

Laurence also adds to this, saying: “OpenAI have publicly said how deeply they rely on Slack. Brad Lightcap, OpenAI COO, said that their company is arguably powered by Slack, and OpenAI talk openly about using it every day to move faster and stay aligned. For a company building the future of work, that is a strong signal.”

Final Thoughts

It’s fair to say that Altman might be right about the noise that tools like Slack can produce. Endless notifications and sprawling threads can easily masquerade as productivity, and chat apps have arguably created this culture.

However, he may be wrong to think that Slack can’t evolve out of this mold.

Slack is fast-moving toward the AI-native, AI-driven vision Altman has already described. It has AI that will reduce noise, automations that handle the routine, and deep connections to Salesforce’s rapidly advancing AI stack. Slack may not yet be the AI-native workplace platform Altman imagines, but it’s far closer than people realize.

As Laurence puts it: “Yes, AI will change the productivity stack. It will strip out noise and reduce fake work. But my view is that Slack is not replaced by that shift – it becomes the front door for it.”