In a recent interview, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, revealed a surprising truth: even as the world’s leading AI innovator, he still relies on a spiral notebook and a pen to think clearly. His approach is refreshingly simple and deeply relevant in the age of AI tools like MindNote, where the goal isn’t to replace thinking, but to amplify it. The Analog Secret Behind a Digital Visionary Altman describes himself as a “huge notetaker.” But not with fancy apps or sleek digital planners. He prefers a spiral notebook for one key reason: it helps him think better. He loves being able to tear out pages, lay ideas side by side, and even crumple them up when done a physical way to interact with his thoughts. Writing is a tool for thinking most importantly For Altman, clarity doesn’t come from perfection. It comes from iteration, from scribbling, rewriting, and seeing your ideas evolve on paper. Writing Is Thinking, AI just supercharges It. While Altman celebrates the power of h...
MindNote, an AI notetaking web app, officially launched in May 2025. Designed to turbocharge productivity for B2B teams, university students, and academic researchers alike, MindNote promises to help users write up to ten times faster and effortlessly capture and refine ideas from any format text, voice, video, or image.
A launch designed for the future of Notetaking
Since its launch MindNote has seen notable traction with a growing roster of paid customers picking up the platform by its third month. The app’s intuitive web interface and robust AI tools position it as a compelling solution for anyone who demands efficient, flexible, and intelligent notes that adapt to their workflow. Imagine transcribing hours of YouTube lectures, drafting detailed meeting notes, or capturing spontaneous ideas on the go, with MindNote, it’s just a paste, speak, or upload away.
Standout features
Personalized notes: Tweak colors, group notes into folders, and add media like images and audio to personalize your workspace.
In-person and virtual meeting Transcriptions: Automatically transcribe meetings in real time whether they're in person or online. MindNote supports Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, with Slack Huddles integration coming soon.
YouTube video transcription: Paste any YouTube URL and instantly convert spoken content, be it lectures, meetings, or events into editable text.
Multi‑language speech-to-Text: Free form dictation that transcribes your speech into written notes in real time.
Text-to‑Voice Playback. Have your notes read aloud while you multitask or review on the go.
AI smart editing: Use prompts to translate, summarize, reformat into tables, alphabetize, or anything with a single tap.
Media integration: Enrich notes with images, videos, and audio for deeper context and engagement.
Flexible organization: Tag, folder, and set reminders to keep everything tidy and accessible.
Image-to‑Text conversion: Extract typed or handwritten text effortlessly from images.
Real-Time collaboration: Work on notes together in real time editing, commenting, and co-creating.
Flexible exports: Save and share your notes as PDF, CSV, DOC, or DOCX files.
It's designed for those who write a lot but want smarter, not harder. Whether you're a team capturing meeting minutes, a student organizing lecture notes, or a researcher synthesizing interviews, MindNote simplifies the process with AI clarity.
Pricing
MindNote offers a simple, accessible pricing model: Monthly Plan: USD 4.99/month, includes a 3-day free trial. Yearly Plan: USD 50/year (16% savings), includes a 3-day free trial. Both plans unlock unlimited notes, shared access, AI assistance (summarization, formatting, translation, search), exports, collaboration, cloud sync, and future updates.
Looking ahead, MindNote’s roadmap includes mobile apps (Android and iOS), integrations with google docs, slack, notion and richer media handling, and even brain-to-text tools each pushing the boundaries of intuitive, AI productivity.