OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to allegations of sexual abuse by his estranged younger sister on Tuesday, calling the claims “absolutely untrue.”
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a New case In the filing Monday, Annie Altman alleged that her older brother sexually abused her over a nine-year period in the 1990s and 2000s. The suite echoes Claims that Annie has previously made on social media In 2021.
Sam Altman admitted to the case Posted on X On Tuesday, her brothers Max and Jack, as well as her mother, Connie, responded with a statement.
The Altman family has alleged that the claims in the lawsuit are false. They wrote that Annie has faced mental health challenges for several years and they are concerned about her well-being. The Altmans say they have tried to help Annie in many ways, including providing financial support over the years.
The Altman family wrote in the statement:
Despite this, Annie kept demanding more money from us. In this vein, Annie made deeply hurtful and completely untrue claims about our family, and Sam in particular. We chose not to respond publicly out of respect for her privacy and our privacy. However, she has now taken legal action against Sam, and we feel we have no choice but to resolve this.
Over the years, he has accused our family members of wrongfully withholding our father's 401k funds, hacking his wifi, and “shadow banning” him from various websites, including ChatGPT, Twitter, and more. She alleges at worst that she was sexually abused by Sam as a child (she also claims incidents of sexual abuse from others). His claims have evolved greatly over time. Newly for this case, they now include allegations of incidents where Sam was 18 years old.
Sam Altman has been estranged from his sister for a long time, according to one 2023 profile OpenAI CEO in New York Magazine. Although Altman often talks about his brothers, who are themselves tech entrepreneurs and investors, he rarely mentions his sister publicly. At one point, according to a New York magazine profile, Annie asked him to repost her podcast, a request that Sam refused. The piece separately notes that Altman has repeatedly tried to offer Annie money, gifts and even offers to buy her a house.
The profile piece echoes some of the concerns surrounding Annie's mental health that Altman described in Tuesday's response to her allegations. It describes Annie as having a turbulent personal life, noting that she once moved 20 times in one year. The death of their father Jerry in 2018 was apparently a tipping point for Annie's mental health.