Sam Altman Gifts ₹1.5 Crore AI-Themed Swiss Watches To Six OpenAI Team Members

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has commissioned seven custom-built luxury watches from Swiss watchmaker Vanguart, each priced at around Rs. 1.5 crore, and gifted six of them to colleagues at the company, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

A watch built around AI in-jokes

The timepieces are based on Vanguart's futuristic titanium Orb model, which typically starts at about $180,000. Photos shared online show the watches carry the OpenAI logo along with several references pulled straight from the company's internal vocabulary. The phrase 'compute is destiny' is engraved around the rotor, while 'scaling' appears on the crown pusher. The case back carries a Python-style line of code reading 'if AGI.aligned: deploy()' a nod, according to Vanguart co-founder Axel Leuenberger, to the idea that artificial general intelligence should be deployed only once it is safe to do so.

Vanguart chairman and co-founder Mehmet Koruturk told the publication that roughly a third of the watchmaker's 33-person team worked on the OpenAI commission. The watches come with a sporty rubber strap and can switch between automatic and manual winding.

Extremely limited supply

Vanguart has made fewer than 200 watches since its founding - across its entire lineup, not just this one model - making the seven OpenAI pieces a notable share of the brand's total output.

Not the first exclusive OpenAI wristwear

This isn't the first time OpenAI has handed out high-end watches internally. Earlier this month, the company's head of applied research, Boris Power, showed off a custom OpenAI-branded Tudor watch on X, saying around 400 units had been produced. That watch bears the OpenAI logo and the inscription "Good Research Takes Time" on its case back.

Altman's known taste for luxury

Altman has previously been seen wearing high-end watches, including a Greubel Forsey piece reportedly worth around $650,000. His collection of expensive assets extends well beyond watches. He owns a Koenigsegg Regera hypercar valued at roughly $2 million and a McLaren F1 estimated at around $20 million. He has also built a sizeable property portfolio, including a Napa Valley ranch, multiple San Francisco homes, and a nearly 22-acre Hawaii estate that was briefly listed for $49 million in 2025 before being pulled off the market this year.