The New Yorker

Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?

Business Insider

OpenAI's ambitions are easy to see. So are the doubts about its CEO.

Substack

Sam Altman, unconstrained by the truth

Futurism

Inside Sources Say Sam Altman Is a Sociopath

RonanFarrow

The Hill

5817906 Openai Ai Policy Recommendations

Axios

Behind The Curtain Sams Superintelligence New Deal

The Wall Street Journal

What To Know About Openais Ideas For A World With Superintelligence E97D6E7B

elonmusk

sama

Metaculus

Sam Altmans Net Worth In January 2030

Elon Musk

Rishi Sunak

Kamala Harris

Bill Gates

Andrew Ng

Yoshua Bengio

Fei-Fei Li

Demis Hassabis

Melanie Mitchell

Sam Altman

Dario Amodei

Geoffrey Hinton

Yann LeCun

Gary Marcus

Max Tegmark

Connor Leahy

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Jaan Tallinn

Marc Andreessen

Eric Schmidt

Norbert Wiener

Arthur Clarke

Irving John Good

Claude Shannon

Hans Moravec

John Smart

There's a "wall of fear-mongering and doomerism" in the AI world right now.

"Worrying about AI today is like worrying about overpopulation on Mars."

Concerns that AI could pose a threat to humanity is "preposterously ridiculous."

Claiming AI poses an existential threat is "such an extreme" and risks "wip[ing] out some of its potential benefits."

"I'm more concerned about... the risks that are here and now [than the existential threat of AI]."

Current AI is "not anywhere close" to posing an existential threat but it could in the future.

AI is the "biggest existential threat" to humanity.

AGI's worst-case scenario would be "lights-out for all of us."

Powerful AI systems "taking control" pose an "existential threat."

AI has a "10 to 25 per cent" chance of destroying humanity.

"The most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI... is that literally everyone on Earth will die."

Does AI Pose an Existential Threat to Humanity?

Alex Kantrowitz

Trishla Ostwal

William Savitt

Marc Toberoff

Colin Rusch

Brian Roemmele

Austen Allred

Kelsey Piper

"The company is not for sale. It's another one of his tactics to try to mess with us."

"So my very basic read is Elon's offer isn't serious."

"Musk and his legal team's insistence that the offer is real should keep it in the headlines for a while, but I’m still skeptical of their story."

"We don't expect any meaningful discussions to develop."

"Elon's offer to purchase the OpenAI nonprofit for $97.4billion isn't going to happen."

"It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was. We will make sure that happens."

Will Elon Musk Buy OpenAI?

The New Yorker has published an 18-month investigation into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, co-authored by Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, based on more than 100 interviews and over 200 pages of documents including previously undisclosed internal memos.

Ronan Farrow

The New Yorker has published an 18-month investigation into OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, co-authored by Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, based on more than 100 interviews and over 200 pages of documents including previously undisclosed internal memos.

Altman was fired by OpenAI's board in November 2023 for being "not consistently candid in his communications," but was reinstated within five days after a majority of employees threatened to leave and Microsoft announced it would create a competing initiative for him.

Altman was fired by OpenAI's board in November 2023 for being "not consistently candid in his communications," but was reinstated within five days after a majority of employees threatened to leave and Microsoft announced it would create a competing initiative for him.

The report claims that following Altman's reinstatement, law firm WilmerHale allegedly conducted a review of the events surrounding his firing. People close to the inquiry said no written report was produced, with OpenAI releasing only an 800-word statement acknowledging a "breakdown in trust."

The report claims that following Altman's reinstatement, law firm WilmerHale allegedly conducted a review of the events surrounding his firing. People close to the inquiry said no written report was produced, with OpenAI releasing only an 800-word statement acknowledging a "breakdown in trust."

Former OpenAI board members and executives who facilitated Altman's 2023 ouster allege a pattern of deception, with one board member quoted as saying he is "unconstrained by truth" and possesses "a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone."

Former OpenAI board members and executives who facilitated Altman's 2023 ouster allege a pattern of deception, with one board member quoted as saying he is "unconstrained by truth" and possesses "a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone."

Altman told The New Yorker that since ChatGPT's launch, "the decisions have gotten very difficult," and described his role as "the most stressful" job he could reasonably imagine, while attributing criticism of his conduct to being "too much of a conflict avoider" early in his career.

Altman told The New Yorker that since ChatGPT's launch, "the decisions have gotten very difficult," and described his role as "the most stressful" job he could reasonably imagine, while attributing criticism of his conduct to being "too much of a conflict avoider" early in his career.

This comes as OpenAI published a 13-page policy paper titled <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.verity.news/story/2026/openai-unveils-ai-policy-blueprint-for-governments">"Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age,</a>" with Altman telling Axios that superintelligence was "so close, so mind-bending, so disruptive" that a new social contract was required.

This comes as OpenAI published a 13-page policy paper titled "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age," with Altman telling Axios that superintelligence was "so close, so mind-bending, so disruptive" that a new social contract was required.

This investigation reaffirms Altman's history of self-serving deception. Even in 2026, OpenAI's economics are a mess yet Altman seeks to distract with a splashy "superintelligence" blueprint right when the CFO is ringing the alarm bells. Leaving decisions about potentially civilization-ending AI models in the hands of someone this untrustworthy is genuinely dangerous.

This investigation reaffirms Altman's history of self-serving deception. Even in 2026, OpenAI's economics are a mess yet Altman seeks to distract with a splashy "superintelligence" blueprint right when the CFO is ringing the alarm bells. Leaving decisions about potentially civilization-ending AI models in the hands of someone this untrustworthy is genuinely dangerous.

Narrative A

Altman is an AI pioneer with a fundamental mission to transform humanity for the better. The recent launch of the OpenAI Foundation as well as the company's superintelligence policy paper show that Altman and his team are not the sociopathtic monsters some allege them to be. While competitors complain, Altman and OpenAI will continue to make the world a better place.

Altman is an AI pioneer with a fundamental mission to transform humanity for the better. The recent launch of the OpenAI Foundation as well as the company's superintelligence policy paper show that Altman and his team are not the sociopathtic monsters some allege them to be. While competitors complain, Altman and OpenAI will continue to make the world a better place.

Narrative B

There is a 50% chance that Altman's net worth will be over $69 billion by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

There is a 50% chance that Altman's net worth will be over $69 billion by 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

New Yorker Publishes 18-Month Sam Altman Investigation

The Spin

Narrative A

Narrative B

Metaculus Prediction

Public Figures

The Controversies

Andreessen

Ng

LeCun

Mitchell

Li

Bengio

Musk

Altman

Hinton

Amodei

Yudkowsky

Altman

Allred

Kantrowitz

Rusch

Piper

Toberoff

Go Deeper

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New Yorker Publishes 18-Month Sam Altman Investigation

The Spin

Narrative A

Narrative B

Metaculus Prediction

Public Figures

The Controversies

Andreessen

Ng

LeCun

Mitchell

Li

Bengio

Musk

Altman

Hinton

Amodei

Yudkowsky

Altman

Allred

Kantrowitz

Rusch

Piper

Toberoff

Go Deeper

Articles on this story

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