Sam Altman Denies Sexually Abusing Sister

Tom Jowitt,
Linkedin
Sam Altman OpenAI ChatGPT

Sister of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, files lawsuit against him and alleges he sexually abused her for years as a child

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly denied “utterly untrue” sexual abuse allegations made against him by his sister.

For years Ann Altman has publicly claimed she had been sexually abused by her brother, but now for the first time she has filed a lawsuit on Monday in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, CNBC reported.

Ann Altman alleges in the lawsuit that Sam Altman sexually abused her regularly between 1997 and 2006 when she was a child.

But the family of Sam Altman have rallied around the OpenAI CEO and responded to the “utterly untrue” allegations, and outlined Ann’s many years of “mental health challenges.”

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman at the OpenAI Hackathon in March 2018. Image credit: OpenAI
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. Image credit: OpenAI

Abuse allegations

In her lawsuit, Ann Altman said the abuse occurred at the family home in suburban Clayton, Missouri, beginning when she was three and her brother was 12.

Ann Altman, aged 30, said the abuse included “numerous acts” of rape, sexual assault, molestation, sodomy and battery until she was 11 or 12 years old.

She has apparently made similar allegations against other family members.

The filing reportedly claims that the abusive activities took place “several times per week,” beginning with oral sex and later involving penetration.

The lawsuit claims that “as a direct and proximate result of the foregoing acts of sexual assault,” the plaintiff has experienced “severe emotional distress, mental anguish, and depression, which is expected to continue into the future.”

The lawsuit requests a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000.

Mental health

But Sam Altman’s remaining family members (his mother, and two brothers) have issued a joint response on X (formerly Twitter), soundly rejecting the allegations and pointing to Ann’s mental health issues and continued demands for money.

“All of these claims are utterly untrue,” the family wrote. “This situation causes immense pain to our entire family. It is especially gut-wrenching when she refuses conventional treatment and lashes out at family members who are genuinely trying to help.”

Ann Altman has publicly made similar sexual assault allegations against her brothers in the past, but this is the first time she’s taken him to court.