Hardcore isn't just Musk's style: in Sam Altman's startup, employees "shouldn't care about anything except work"

«We will not fail, and we will not be mediocre, and this is what we want, and this is the only thing I think about every day and what you should be thinking about every day, and nothing else should matter. If anything else matters to you, and if you want something else, you simply don’t belong here. It’s very simple,» Blania says in a recording obtained by Business Insider.

The company aims to build a global digital system to verify who is human in a world increasingly dominated by AI. Blania said the company exists solely to achieve this goal and that everything else is merely a distraction.

«We don’t care about politics, we don’t care about diversity and inclusion, we don’t care about anything, we just think about how to achieve the mission through merit, effectiveness, and quality,» Blania said. At the same meeting, employees were encouraged to use AI to increase productivity.

Below is a frame from a February video obtained by the publication. The TV screen in the startup’s former San Francisco office displays company values that reinforce Blania’s message.

«We are very (very) hardworking. We believe this is a unique project and its success is important for humanity. So we work on weekends, we’re always available, and we push to the maximum of what the circumstances allow. As a result, we achieve the impossible, break away from the pack, and succeed in our mission,» the text stated.

Among other values, the startup doesn’t «tolerate slowness and comfort,» and it has «no place for talkers, ideologies, or politics.» «We don’t have time to worry about each other’s feelings; we say what needs to be said,» the startup instructs. According to a former employee, these values were written by Blania.

«The organization’s transparency about its values and working principles has resulted in a team that is passionate and focused on its increasingly urgent mission — to ensure that every person benefits from the age of AI,» a Tools for Humanity representative told Business Insider. Currently, the company’s key values include belief in the project’s success, individual responsibility, and clear thinking.

At the January meeting, Blania said the company plans to deploy an additional 3,000 Orbs to verify the identities of 30 million users by the end of the quarter, with the goal of reaching 100 million by year-end. The global target is one billion users. So far, Tools for Humanity has verified approximately 17.5 million people — less than 2% of its goal.