Artificial Intelligence

New Yorker Publishes 18-Month Sam Altman Investigation

Is Sam Altman a dangerous hype man masking OpenAI's chaos or a visionary leader offering rare transparency on AI's risks?

Published APR 7

New Yorker Publishes 18-Month Sam Altman Investigation

Story

Above: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in Washington, D.C., on March 11. Image credit: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

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 on X
The New Yorker
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.
Business Insider
The New Yorker
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."
Ronan Farrow on X
The New Yorker
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."
Futurism
The New Yorker
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.
Futurism
The New Yorker
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.
The Wall Street Journal
The Hill
Axios

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

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.

Elon Musk on X

Gary Marcus on Substack

Narrative B

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.

Sam Altman on X

Axios