“A lot of people in tech say they take the long view, but Sam seems to really mean it,” Farhad Manjoo, the New York Times technology columnist, said in an email.

We caught up with Mr. Altman by phone. Some excerpts:

Q. There’s talk of you pondering a run for governor. What’s the word?

A. That was taken deeply out of context, that quote. I am trying very hard to get somebody to run for governor.

Anyone in particular?

I’ve been basically going around to a lot of the tech leaders in Silicon Valley and I’ve been striking out so far. But I’m not giving up.

Why do you want a governor from Silicon Valley?

The fight about government in the U.S. has basically been reduced to either raise taxes or cut services. I think there’s a third answer, which is use technology to do more with less.

Also, I think technology is this huge wave that is coming. We’re not that far away from a world where all repetitive human work that does not have an emotional component like [that of] a doctor or a teacher is going to be done by software. This change is going to be massive and quick. I think it would be really good to have somebody who understands it.