The last AI guy who spoke out and was a whistleblower ended up dead.

Hopefully the sister who recently filed a lawsuit doesn’t end up the same way.

Suchir Balaji

OpenAI

Sam Altman
(sister Ann Altman)

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and a leading figure in the artificial intelligence industry, has been accused by his sister, Ann Altman, of s*.xual abuse during their childhood. The allegations, filed in a lawsuit on January 6, claim the abuse occurred regularly from 1997 to 2006 while the family lived in Clayton, Missouri. Ann, who was three when the alleged abuse began, says it escalated over time.

Altman and his family strongly deny the claims, describing them as “entirely untrue” in a joint statement. “Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her wellbeing,” the statement reads, adding that her mental health challenges have been a difficult journey for the family.

Ann has previously shared similar allegations on social media, alleging multiple forms of a*.use by her siblings. She also encouraged others who might have had similar experiences to come forward.

Her legal team has attributed her mental health struggles to the alleged a*.use, while Altman’s family views the situation as stemming from her ongoing mental health issues. The case is likely to evolve as more details come to light, with both sides preparing to present their narratives in court.

Related:

Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower, was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on November 26. Authorities ruled his death a suicide and found no evidence of foul play.

Balaji had publicly criticized OpenAI’s practices in recent months, particularly its alleged misuse of copyrighted data to develop ChatGPT. In an October interview with The New York Times, he accused the company of violating US copyright law and harming the internet. OpenAI maintains that its models are trained on publicly available data and grounded in fair use principles.

After leaving OpenAI in August, Balaji pursued personal projects. He had grown up in Cupertino, California, and studied computer science at UC Berkeley. OpenAI expressed condolences following his death, describing it as “incredibly sad news.”

This incident comes as OpenAI faces lawsuits from publishers and authors, including John Grisham, accusing it of illegally using news articles to train its AI models.