Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?
by adrianhon on 4/6/2026, 10:36:57 AM
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted
Comments
by: ronanfarrow
Ronan Farrow here. Andrew Marantz and I spent 18 months on this investigation. Happy to answer questions about the reporting.
4/6/2026, 12:58:42 PM
by: steve_adams_86
> Amodei, in one of his early notes, recalled pressing Brockman on his priorities and Brockman replying that he wanted “money and power.” Brockman disputes this. His diary entries from this time suggest conflicting instincts. One reads, “Happy to not become rich on this, so long as no one else is.” In another, he asks, “So what do I <i>really</i> want?” Among his answers is “Financially what will take me to $1B.”<p>I can't imagine having such uninspired thoughts and actually writing them down while in a role of such diverse and worthwhile opportunities. I'd like to ask "how the hell do these people find themselves in these positions", but I think the answer is literally what he wrote in his diary. What a boring answer. We need to filter these people out at every turn, but instead they're elevated to the highest peaks of power.
4/6/2026, 11:05:56 PM
by: morleytj
Wow, this is an incredibly detailed piece. Really in depth reporting and the kind of detailed investigation we need more of on important topics like this.<p>> "Employees now call this moment “the Blip,” after an incident in the Marvel films in which characters disappear from existence and then return, unchanged, to a world profoundly altered by their absence."<p>This is a very small detail, but an instinctive grimace crosses my face at the thought of these sort of Marvel references and I'm not entirely sure why.
4/6/2026, 11:06:58 PM
by: pharos92
We focus these critiques far too much on the face rather than the underlying mechanics. Just like in politics, we critique the personality/politician yet the underlying system architecture evades it.<p>Sam Altman clearly has a long history of nefarious activity. But the underlying threat posted by AI to society, the economy and human freedom persists with or without his presence.
4/6/2026, 10:57:44 PM
by: neonate
<a href="https://archive.ph/hOYMn" rel="nofollow">https://archive.ph/hOYMn</a>
4/6/2026, 9:33:36 PM
by: dmitrygr
The number of "Altman doesn’t remember this" or "Altman denies this" is hilarious
4/6/2026, 11:27:09 PM
by: swingboy
It's really interesting reading about how these folks view LLMs. Yeah, they're transformative, but I don't know that we're going to be eating ramen in a Neo-Tokyo street bar anytime soon. So much "A.G.I" mentioned in the article.
4/6/2026, 10:24:57 PM
by: ergocoder
I wonder if Sam might abandon the ship soon. Other co-founders already did.<p>The main reason is that he gets all the downsides without the upsides. I know $5B is a lot but, for a 700B company, it isn't. If OpenAI was a regular for-profit, he would have been worth >$100B already.<p>This is probably <i>one</i> of the significant factors why other co-founders left too. It's just a lot of headaches with relatively low reward.
4/6/2026, 10:45:02 PM
by: kmfrk
Gobsmacking details about Altmans' time as Y Combinator president, in case anyone's wondering.<p>Fantastic reporting.
4/6/2026, 3:44:28 PM
by: 383toast
if you have to ask if someone can be trusted, they usually can't
4/6/2026, 11:13:17 PM
by: ambicapter
I didn't have the mental energy to read the whole thing but man the final paragraph is some really good writing. Way to tie it all in together.
4/6/2026, 10:52:46 PM
by: quantified
A bit of a feeling of "so what" here. Maybe he's less trustworthy than some. We have people of X trustworthiness running the government, crypto exchanges, a certain space exploration and satellite company, social media companies, and so on. We know their trustworthiness. Isn't the real issue how to cope?
4/6/2026, 11:15:14 PM
by: ninjahawk1
OpenAI is like #3 or #4 of the AI companies right now in terms of power, and last place in the court of public opinion.<p>I’d be more concerned about Anthropic both being in the good graces of the public and having access to all of our computers indirectly with Claude Code.
4/6/2026, 10:30:13 PM
by: adrianhon
Archive link: <a href="https://archive.is/2026.04.06-100412/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted" rel="nofollow">https://archive.is/2026.04.06-100412/https://www.newyorker.c...</a>
4/6/2026, 12:48:18 PM
by: throw4847285
A new Ronan Farrow piece is a rare gift (and Marantz is no slouch). Can't wait to read this in the physical magazine when it arrives!
4/6/2026, 6:20:23 PM
by: wk_end
This anecdote is so absurd it sounds like satire. This is the guy with the $23M mansion?<p>> Amodei’s notes describe escalating tense encounters, including one, months later, in which Altman summoned him and his sister, Daniela, who worked in safety and policy at the company, to tell them that he had it on “good authority” from a senior executive that they had been plotting a coup. Daniela, the notes continue, “lost it,” and brought in that executive, who denied having said anything. As one person briefed on the exchange recalled, Altman then denied having made the claim. “I didn’t even say that,” he said. “You just said that,” Daniela replied.
4/6/2026, 10:14:18 PM
by: arionhardison
Hi @ronanfarrow — I have only had one interaction with Sam Altman in person, and I was advised to keep it to myself. I know this crowd may not care, but Altman is absolutely terrified of Black people — not in any contextual sense, but in a visceral, instinctive way. For someone who, as you put it, "controls our future," this should matter.<p>FYI: I am by far not the only one to have experienced this and it 100% impacts hiring and other decisions at OpenAI.
4/6/2026, 10:12:25 PM
by: just_once
Amazing that this article and an actual comment from Ronan Farrow is this far down the list while...Scientists Figured Out How Eels Reproduce (2022) has 6 times the points.
4/6/2026, 2:34:28 PM
by: HardwareLust
Of course he cannot be trusted. Anyone whose motivation is based on greed is by nature untrustworthy.
4/6/2026, 3:06:14 PM
by: slg
One thing that stands out when reading profiles like this is the number of positive and negative descriptions of the subject that agree. For example, there seems to be little dispute that Altman will happily say something that he knows/believes isn't true, there's just a lot of people who are willing to forgive any lies if the lies are in service of something they themselves agree with.
4/6/2026, 10:10:12 PM
by: innocenttop
Why is the story so downranked? Folks at HackerNews have something to do with it ?
4/6/2026, 6:15:43 PM
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4/6/2026, 10:55:20 PM
by: lenerdenator
If you are asking if a single human can be trusted with such a responsibility, the answer is, by default, no.
4/6/2026, 9:41:22 PM
by:
4/6/2026, 1:38:25 PM
by: KellyCriterion
Na, it will be Dario instead of Sam, Id say? :-))
4/6/2026, 9:27:10 PM
by: pupppet
Ask Condé Nast if he can be trusted..<p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/VWJVBNzc2u" rel="nofollow">https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/s/VWJVBNzc2u</a>
4/6/2026, 2:35:52 PM
by: nickphx
speak for yourself, he doesnt control my future.
4/6/2026, 11:02:46 PM
by: primer42
"Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no."<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...</a>
4/6/2026, 10:51:59 PM
by: jader201
Am I the only one that feels like Claude is clearly winning code generation, and Gemini in general LLM?<p>I just don’t feel like OpenAI has a legitimate shot at winning any of the AI battles.<p>Therefore, I feel like “Sam Altman may control our future” is a far stretch.
4/6/2026, 10:00:42 PM
by: nielsbot
No one person control our future. Stop there.
4/6/2026, 10:18:45 PM
by:
4/6/2026, 4:13:02 PM
by: jesterson
Watch Altman's reaction in Tucker Carlson interview to the question about (alleged) murder of OpenAI researcher Suchir Balaji.<p>The overall response and particularly the body language speaks a lot.
4/6/2026, 3:24:28 PM
by: aduty
LOL, no.
4/6/2026, 11:09:13 PM
by: therobots927
Excellent work. I’ll have to wait until we get the print version delivered to finish as I’m not signed into the new Yorker on my phone.<p>I’ve always been a huge fan of Ronan Farrow’s journalism and willingness to speak truth to power. I think he’s pulling at exactly the right thread here, and it’s very important to counteract Altman’s reputation laundering given that we run a very real risk of him weaseling his way into the taxpayer’s wallet under the current administration.
4/6/2026, 1:16:51 PM
by: simoncion
Can Sam "The board can fire me, I think that's important." Altman be trusted?<p>If for no other reason, given what happened when the board fired him... no. I'd say not.
4/6/2026, 10:42:43 PM
by: game_the0ry
For those curious about how sama got to where he got and stayed on top for so long, I recommend you read the book: The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout.<p>I am fairly confident when I say this -- sama is a sociopath. I don't know how anyone with solid intuition could even come to any other conclusion than the guy is deeply weird and off-putting.<p>Some concepts from the book:<p>> Core trait: The defining characteristic is the absence of conscience, meaning they feel no guilt, shame, or remorse.<p>> Identification: Sociopaths can be charming and appear normal, but they often lie, cheat, and manipulate to get what they want.<p>> The Rule of Threes: One lie is a mistake, two is a concern, but three lies or broken promises is a pattern of a liar.<p>> Trust your instincts over a person's social role (e.g., doctor, leader, parent)<p>Check and check.<p>OpenAI is too important to trust sama with. He needs to go. In fact, AI should be considered a public good, not a commodity pay-as-you-go intelligence service.
4/6/2026, 8:08:42 PM
by: almostdeadguy
Seems this got buried from the front page very quickly
4/6/2026, 4:53:49 PM
by: GlibMonkeyDeath
Disclaimer: I have no association with any AI company and have never met Altman or any of the other top AI scientists.<p>The real question is: can <i>anyone</i> be trusted if the fever dreams of super-intelligence come true? Go ahead and replace Sam Altman with someone else - will it make a difference? Any other CEO is going to be under the same overwhelming pressure to make a profit somehow. I think the OpenAI story is messier because it was founded for supposedly altruistic reasons, and then changed.<p>Methinks many of Altman's detractors protesteth too much. He's doing his job as it is defined (make OpenAI profitable.) Nothing of substance in this article seemed to make him exceptionally "sociopathic" compared to any other tech CEO. It goes with the territory.<p>What depressed me most is that <i>trillions</i> of dollars are being raised for building what will undoubtedly be used as a weapon. My guess is the ROI on that money is going to be extremely bad for the most part (AI will make some people insanely rich, but it is hard to see how the big investors will get a return.) Could you imagine if the world shared the same vision for energy infrastructure (so we could also stop fighting wars over control of fossil fuels and spewing CO2?) A man can dream...
4/6/2026, 4:46:08 PM
by: lnenad
This whole situation goes to show that yesterday's conspiracy theorists are today's realists. What's happening to USA's leadership and as a country and what's happening with with their top companies is really scary for the rest of us. If this trend continues we're all definitely gonna end up in a kleptocracy.
4/6/2026, 1:26:20 PM
by: guzfip
> Lehane—whose reported motto, after Mike Tyson, is “Everyone has a game plan until you punch them in the mouth”<p>lol do you think these guys have ever been hit? Let alone in the face. They’d probably be less eager to mouth off as much as they do if so.
4/6/2026, 6:49:10 PM
by: thm
Hybris.
4/6/2026, 11:48:49 AM
by: seba_dos1
Looks like Betteridge's law of headlines applies here too.
4/6/2026, 1:29:49 PM
by: Aboutplants
Seeing Sam Altman slowly degrade into the realization that he is in fact not as smart as others in this space has been fascinating to watch. He used to speak with enthusiasm and confidence and now he’s like a scared little boy who got in way too deep.<p>The last person that this happened to was Sam Bankman Fried as investors and regular folk finally realized he was full of complete shit and could only talk the game for so long until the truth emerged.
4/6/2026, 1:14:31 PM
by: ambicapter
> The day that Altman was fired, he flew back to his twenty-seven-million-dollar mansion in San Francisco, which has panoramic views of the bay and once featured a cantilevered infinity pool, and set up what he called a “sort of government-in-exile.” Conway, the Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky, and the famously aggressive crisis-communications manager Chris Lehane joined, sometimes for hours a day, by video and phone. Some members of Altman’s executive team camped out in the hallways of the house. Lawyers set up in a home office next to his bedroom. During bouts of insomnia, Altman would wander by them in his pajamas. When we spoke with Altman recently, he described the aftermath of his firing as “just this weird fugue.”<p>These sociopaths are so good at giving away nothing. He managed to engender sympathy instead of saying "I'm not gonna talk about anything that happened then".<p>Also very weird how many of these people are so deeply-linked that they'll drop everything they're doing just to get this guy back in power? Terrifying cabal.
4/6/2026, 10:10:45 PM
by: ahartmetz
Well, no, obviously not. Not one bit.
4/6/2026, 12:59:54 PM
by: tylerchilds
[dead]
4/6/2026, 10:56:50 PM
by: HarHarVeryFunny
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headlines" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...</a>
4/6/2026, 9:39:28 PM
by: surcap526
[dead]
4/6/2026, 6:12:20 PM
by: giwook
tl;dr<p>No, he cannot.
4/6/2026, 11:00:51 PM
by: huflungdung
[dead]
4/6/2026, 1:06:15 PM
by: covercash
[flagged]
4/6/2026, 1:10:12 PM
by: romeroej
Can anybody tho?
4/6/2026, 9:50:09 PM
by: neya
[flagged]
4/6/2026, 1:05:40 PM
by: josefritzishere
Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word "NO."
4/6/2026, 2:27:50 PM
by: FpUser
>"Sam Altman may control our future"<p>TLDR but just the heading is already ugly. No single person no matter how nice they're should be able to control our future. Power corrupts, what fucking trust. We are supposed to be democratic society (well looking at what is going on around this is becoming laughable)
4/6/2026, 10:17:01 PM
by: drivingmenuts
Short answer: No. Long answer: Hell, no.
4/6/2026, 1:07:04 PM
by: gchokov
He is cooked. Only a matter of time before the whole thing blows up. Once a scammer, always a scammer.
4/6/2026, 1:11:11 PM
by: sumeno
Betteridge strikes again
4/6/2026, 1:09:24 PM
by: Cheyana
Harvey Dent…
4/6/2026, 12:29:44 PM
by: LetsGetTechnicl
No
4/6/2026, 1:05:32 PM
by: catigula
1. No.<p>2. You cannot "control" superintelligent AI.
4/6/2026, 1:05:49 PM
by: ekjhgkejhgk
No.
4/6/2026, 1:06:02 PM
by: killbot5000
No. Why is this a question?
4/6/2026, 10:32:04 PM
by: aksss
"could", "may", "might" - these words do so much heavy lifting in "journalism". Almost always it's an invitation to worry and be miserable.
4/6/2026, 9:40:23 PM
by: asK1ajsh
The New Yorker is owned by Conde Nast just as Reddit. Conde Nast has a deal with OpenAI:<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-signs-deal-with-cond-nast-2024-08-20/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-signs-deal-with-co...</a><p>This is a damage control piece, and you see that the most stinging comments here get downvoted.
4/6/2026, 10:45:57 PM
by: bijowo1676
This article is just another typical New Yorker fluff piece that tries to look deep but misses the actual point.<p>The biggest flaw is that it spends way too much time on high-school level drama and "he-said-she-said" gossip about Sam Altman’s personal life instead of focusing on the actual technical and corporate capture of OpenAI.<p>The author treats the "nonprofit mission" like some holy quest that was "betrayed," when anyone with a brain in tech saw the Microsoft deal as the moment the original vision died. Instead of a hard-hitting look at how compute-monopolies are actually forming (MSFT AMZN NVDA and circular debt dealing inflating the AI bubble that could crash the economy), we get 5,000 words of hand-wringing over whether Sam is a "nice guy" or a "liar."<p>Who cares???????<p>The board failed because they had no real leverage against billions of dollars, not because they didn't write enough Slack messages. It's a long-winded way of saying "Silicon Valley has internal politics," which isn't news to anyone here.
4/6/2026, 10:40:08 PM
by: cm2012
I don't see anything bad about Altman in this article that cant be explained by the chaos of growing a billion dollar company in a few years.
4/6/2026, 11:08:57 PM