TECH NEWS – Sam Altman is being dragged to court by none other than his sister Ann Altman, and this little family squabble is not a pleasant one (especially since it has become so public).
Ann Altman says he abused her on a regular basis between 1997 and 2006. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, and Sam has flatly denied the allegations. No stranger to the spotlight thanks to his wildly popular artificial intelligence chatbot, Sam Altman has also attracted the wrong kind of attention. CNBC has reported that the lawsuit alleges that Sam sexually harassed his sister for years, but these allegations have been made before on Twitter, and this is the first time he has been taken to court. Ann Altman is being represented by Ryan Mahoney, whose Illinois-based law firm specializes in sexual harassment cases, among others.
In the lawsuit, Ann Altman is seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000. Although unconfirmed, it is possible that Ann Altman specifically requested a jury trial because individuals would be more sympathetic to her case. Regardless, Sam Altman’s mother Connie and brothers Jack and Max have sided with the OpenAI CEO, claiming that Ann made hurtful comments about the family, including his brother. Sam took to Twitter to share a statement suggesting that Ann may be looking to make a quick buck or is mentally ill, with Sam himself branding the allegations as completely untrue.
My sister has filed a lawsuit against me. Here is a statement from my mom, brothers, and me: pic.twitter.com/Nve0yokTSX
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 7, 2025
Let’s look at Sam Altman’s statement: “Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member with mental health issues is incredibly difficult. We know that many families facing similar struggles understand this well. Over the years, we’ve tried many ways to support Annie and help her find stability, following professional advice on how to be supportive without enabling harmful behaviors. To give a sense of our efforts, we have given her monthly financial support, paid her bills directly, covered her rent, helped her find employment opportunities, tried to get her medical help, and offered to buy her a house through a trust (so that she would have a secure place to live but could not sell it immediately). Through our late father’s estate, Annie receives monthly financial support, which we expect to continue for the rest of her life.
Despite this, Annie continues to ask us for more money. In this vein, Annie has made deeply hurtful and completely untrue allegations about our family and Sam in particular. We have chosen not to respond publicly out of respect for her privacy and our own. However, she has now taken legal action against Sam and we feel we have no choice but to respond. Over the years, she has accused members of our family of improperly withholding our father’s 401 k funds, hacking her wifi, and “shadowbanning” her from various websites, including ChatGPT, Twitter, and more. The worst allegation she has made is that she was sexually abused by Sam as a child (she has also alleged instances of sexual abuse by others). Her allegations have evolved drastically over time. New for this lawsuit, they now include allegations of incidents when Sam was over 18.
All of these allegations are completely untrue. This situation is causing immense pain to our entire family. It is especially heartbreaking when she refuses conventional treatment and lashes out at family members who are genuinely trying to help. We ask for everyone’s understanding and compassion as we continue to support Annie as best we can. It is our sincere hope that she will find the stability and peace she’s been searching for – Connie, Sam, Max and Jack,” the statement read.
This is not the only lawsuit involving the OpenAI CEO. As recently as March 2024, Tesla and SpaceX buyer Elon Musk sued Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, one of the company’s founding members, for breach of contract. Musk is trying to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company. As for Ann’s lawsuit, it is likely that Sam’s brothers and mother will be subpoenaed to testify about what happened between 1997 and 2006, which should be specific enough to dismiss these charges.
This does not sound good.
