OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s co-founded startup, Tools for Humanity, recently made headlines for telling their employees to not concern themselves about anything besides their work. The CEO, Alex Blania, put forward a series of straightforward yet cold statements pertaining to work ethics and commitment towards the company’s vision and mission.
Although social media has been critical of the mindset Blania, and in turn his startup Tools for Humanity, wants to promote and inculcate through the organization, the implicit distress may become evident through his words.
One of its prominent products, the Orb, has reportedly scanned less than 2% of their initial target of 1 billion users. In other words, the company seems to be compensating for them missing out on the goal by instructing employees to commit themselves to the work.
Orb startup tools for Humanity CEO reiterates “team values” to workers
A recent news update by Business Insider reported that Alex Blania, CEO of Tools for Humanity, has taken a strong step towards making the workspace into a more goal-driven team. As per the report, Blania said, “We will neither fail, nor will we be an average outcome, and that’s what we want and that’s all I care about every day and all you should care about every day, and nothing else should matter.”
Making the need to focus exclusively on work very clear, Blania continued to speak about the importance to dedicate oneself entirely to their profession. The Tools for Humanity CEO added, “If you should care about something else, and if you want something else, you should just not be here. It’s as simple as that.”
Alex Blania further set the company’s priorities straight. “We don’t care about politics, we don’t care about DEI, we don’t care about anything, we just care about how can we achieve the mission through merit, performance, and excellence.” He then went on to elaborate on the “team values” that every employee must strive to inculcate.
One of the “team values” documented the significance the Orb startup holds in today’s world, which makes the company’s work essential to the society. It goes, “We are very (very) hard working. We believe this is a once in a lifetime project and that success is important for humanity.” It continues, “Therefore, we work weekends, we’re always on call, and we push as hard as our circumstances allow us to. As a result we defy the odds, get to escape velocity and succeed on the mission.“
Related: Sam Altman’s Orb Startup Targets a Billion Users, But Has Reached Less Than 2%
Alex Blania’s statement embodies the dire circumstances of the Orb startup
Alex Blania’s opinion on the ideal workplace that Tools for Humanity should transform into raises a lot of questions regarding work-life balance and the work ethics as well. On social media, many users engaged in the conversation as well. In an X post by @HedgieMarkets on Blania’s brief on the goals the startup’s employees should aim to fulfill, some netizens expressed their opinions.
Well, that'll be great for recruiting.
— John Miguel Esteban (@JohnMiguelEste1) November 20, 2025
Why would any sane person work there? Crazy
— Tomato (@Tomato00603055) November 20, 2025
Blania’s stance with regard to professional commitments does compromise with an individual’s necessity to have a life outside of their workplace. This initiative seems to echo the challenges Tools for Humanity has been facing since the launch of the eye-scanning Orb, which has failed to hit the billion-users’ mark.
Also Read: Sam Altman and Elon Musk React to Google’s Launch of Gemini 3
