Sam Altman gifts himself and 6 OpenAI employees Rs 1.5 crore AI-themed luxury watches, report says

Sam Altman has apparently gifted some of its OpenAI colleagues ultra-exclusive Swiss watches worth around Rs 1.5 crore each. And these rare watches are handcrafted with special OpenAI and AI references.

In Short

• Sam Altman reportedly ordered 7 custom made Vanguart watches
• These watches were ordered for himself and six other OpenAI members
• The watches are made by Vanguart and are based on the titanium Orb model

OpenAI loves its employees, and apparently the perks go well beyond the million-dollar pay cheques. The company has been handing out some seriously limited-edition merchandise to its people, and no, we’re not talking about the OpenAI-branded caps, T-shirts and other swag. Not even the 400 custom Tudor watches made for employees.

We’re talking about something far, far rarer.

A custom-built Swiss watch by Vanguart, based on a model that starts at around $180,000, or roughly Rs 1.5 crore.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commissioned seven custom-built Swiss watches from Vanguart, each based on the independent Swiss watchmaker’s futuristic titanium Orb model. While one of these seven watches are made for Altman himself, 6 others have been gifted to other people at OpenAI.

And these watches are anything but subtle.

The photos of these watches have been shared by WSJ. And looking at the photo, the watches feature the OpenAI logo along with references that will feel very familiar to anyone who spends their days talking about artificial intelligence. “COMPUTE IS DESTINY” is engraved around the rotor, while “SCALING” appears on the crown pusher.

And then there’s the nerdy back. Each watch carries the inscription “if AGI.aligned: deploy()”, written in Python-style code. According to Vanguart co-founder Axel Leuenberger, the idea was to reference the principle that AI should ultimately be deployed for peaceful purposes.

Vanguart chairman and co-founder Mehmet Koruturk told the publication that around a third of the company’s 33 employees worked on the OpenAI project. The watches have a sporty rubber strap and can be switched between automatic and manual winding.

And these watches are rare. How rare, you ask?

Well, Vanguart has produced fewer than 200 watches in total. That is the entire output of the company, not just this particular model.

And this is not the first time OpenAI has treated its employees to some seriously exclusive wristwear.

Earlier this month, Boris Power, OpenAI’s head of applied research, showed off a custom OpenAI-branded Tudor watch on X, revealing that around 400 of them had been made. The watch carries the OpenAI logo and has “Good Research Takes Time” engraved on the back.

But if we’re talking about the CEO himself, Altman is clearly a watch connoisseur. He has previously been spotted wearing high-end pieces, including a Greubel Forsey watch reportedly worth around $650,000. And his taste for expensive things doesn't stop at watches.

Altman has a rather eclectic collection of luxury assets. He owns a Koenigsegg Regera, a Swedish hypercar reportedly worth around $2 million, and a McLaren F1, one of the most collectible supercars ever made, with his example estimated at around $20 million.

Then there’s the property portfolio. Altman has owned a sprawling Hawaii estate, a large ranch in Napa Valley and multiple homes in San Francisco. His Hawaii compound, which he bought in 2021, was listed for $49 million in 2025 before being taken off the market in 2026. The nearly 22-acre property includes a main house, guesthouse, pool, sports court and private marina.

- Ends