Open AI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday denied allegations made by his sister Annie Altman, who filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse during his childhood.
“…Annie has made deeply hurtful and completely false statements about our family, in particular about Sam,” said the boss of the Californian startup in a letter co-signed by his mother and two brothers and published on the social platform .
“Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member facing mental health issues is incredibly difficult,” they wrote.
Altman, one of Silicon Valley’s most charismatic figures, rose to global fame with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, which sparked a race to advance AI research and development.
A prolific entrepreneur and already a billionaire, Altman, 39, has made it his mission to develop so-called “general” AI, endowed with cognitive abilities similar to those of humans and which “benefits all of humanity” .
The Altman family said they tried to help their daughter and sister, covering her expenses and guaranteeing her “monthly financial support, which we hope to continue for the rest of her life.”
“Despite this, Annie continues to ask us for more money,” they said, stressing that they decided to respond publicly following the complaint filed by Anne on Monday and after years of tension.
“The worst allegation she has made is that she was sexually abused by Sam when she was a child,” the family said.
“His claims have evolved significantly over time. Recently, for this trial, they now include allegations of incidents in which Sam was over 18 years old.
“All of these claims are completely false.”
According to the complaint, Annie – who is nine years younger than Sam Altman – claims the assaults took place from 1997, when she was three, until 2006.
In a feature for New York Magazine in 2023, a journalist who met Annie in Hawaii described her as an artist suffering from depression and increasing estrangement from her family, and supporting herself primarily through online sex work .
