How tech titans raise their children in the digital age

Sam Altman

Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, has said ChatGPT played a central role in helping him navigate early parenthood.

Altman said on the Dec. 8 episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that he relied heavily on the chatbot while caring for his eight-month-old son. "I cannot imagine having gone through figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT," he said, according to Inc. magazine.

Altman mentioned one time he had to use the tool to reassure himself that it was normal his then six-month-old child was not yet crawling, after another parent suggested it could be a concern.

He welcomed a baby boy with his partner, software engineer Oliver Mulherin, in February 2025 via surrogacy. In June 2025, Altman said on the debut episode of the "OpenAI Podcast" that his children "will never be smarter than AI," Business Insider reported.

Altman, who describes himself as "extremely kid-pilled," has also shared on X that he bought a US$2,000 crib and large quantities of burp rags.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan and their three daughters. Photo courtesy of Zuckerberg's Instagram

Zuckerberg has repeatedly stressed the importance of values and critical thinking in raising his children. Asked in 2024 what children should study today, he told Bloomberg that "the most important thing is learning how to think critically and learning values when you're young." Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have three daughters: Maxima, 10; August, 8; and Aurelia, 2.

He also said on the "Acquired" podcast that year that when his daughter August said she wanted to grow up to be like U.S. pop star Taylor Swift, he told her that the choice of being a superstar was not "available" to her. According to the New York Post, August later said she changed her mind during the conversation and decided she wanted to be herself.

In a 2019 interview on CBS "This Morning," the Meta CEO said he and Chan, aim to keep their children grounded despite the family’s wealth. "They have chores, they have responsibilities," Zuckerberg said while Chan added that they "do not give them everything."

Satya Nadella

Microsoft CEO Nadella has said his parenting philosophy is rooted in giving children space to grow at their own pace. In a 2017 interview with Good Housekeeping magazine, Nadella said he and his wife, Anu, set clear boundaries on movies, video games, and websites their children can access, while focusing on what each child needs rather than following rigid rules.

His views have been deeply influenced by his son Zain, who had cerebral palsy and died at age 26 in 2022. Nadella has said raising his son taught him the importance of empathy, a value he carries into both family life and leadership at Microsoft.

He has also said he and his wife support letting their children adopt pets, particularly dogs. "There is a different sense of companionship and responsibility that comes with it, that emotional sense that there is a being waiting for you to come back," Anu said.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates and daughter Phoebe Gates. Photo courtesy of Phoebe's Instagram

Gates has said he followed the "Love and Logic" parenting approach developed in the 1970s, which emphasizes calm emotional control and measured responses. He and his former wife, Melinda French Gates, have sought to lead their children by example through work and philanthropy, including The Giving Pledge, a public commitment for billionaires to give away most of their wealth that he co-founded with billionaire Warren Buffett, CNBC reported.

Gates' youngest daughter Phoebe, 23, said on her podcast "The Burnouts" last year that her parents opposed her idea of dropping out of Stanford University to start a company, which she found ironic given her father’s own history. "They were very much like, 'You need to finish your degree; you don't just get to like drop out and do a company.’" she shared. "Which is so funny because my dad literally did that, and that's, like, the reason I'm able to go to Stanford or have my tuition paid."

She also said she and her siblings were not allowed to use their father’s last name publicly until they were in highschool to avoid attention. In a 2025 episode of "Raj Shamani’s Figuring it Out" podcast, Gates said he planned to leave his children less than 1% of his wealth. "I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success be significant," he said. He told host Raj Shamani that does not expect his children to take over Microsoft stressing that he wants them to achieve their own success rather than following his footsteps in the tech world.

Sundar Pichai

Pichai has acknowledged both the usefulness and risks of technology in his children’s lives. He previously told Bloomberg that he sometimes uses Google Lens to help with homework. "Sometimes I'm lazy and I pretend as if I'm thinking, but I'm also using Google Lens to kind of figure out the answer," he said.

Pichai said in another interview with BBC that he has "always been worried about technology" when it comes to his children, while accepting that growing up in a digital world is unavoidable. He encourages them to manage their own screen-time boundaries rather than relying on outright bans.

"Rather than just banning devices, it’s important they learn to make choices," the Google CEO said, as reported by The Economic Times.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos and ex-wife MacKenzie Scott with their four children. Photo from Instagram

Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez, are raising a combined family of seven children. He has four children with his former wife, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, while Sánchez has three from previous relationships.

The Amazon founder has long promoted independence and hands-on learning in parenting. At a 2017 event, Bezos said he allowed his children to use knives at age four and power tools by age seven or eight, lessons he linked to growing up on his grandfather’s farm, according to CNBC.

Speaking at a 2018 gala for global nonprofit FIRST, he encouraged children to pursue work they care deeply about. "Whatever you do, choose something you can bring passion to. That's going to make it easier for you to make that choice to work hard."