Sam Altman breaks silence as estranged sister accuses him and family members of sexual abuse in shock lawsuit

Sam Altman has denied claims made by his sister in a new lawsuit that he sexually abused her as a child. 

The 39-year-old OpenAI CEO is the co-founder of the San Francisco-based company behind ChatGPT and a venture capitalist, who Forbes says amassed much of his $1 billion through investments. 

Ann Altman, 30, filed a complaint Monday in a US District Court in Missouri – where the siblings grew up – that alleged her brother molested her between the years of 1997 – when Ann was just three years old and Sam was 12 – and 2006. 

The disturbing lawsuit, which names Ann Altman as the plaintiff, says that Sam ‘groomed and manipulated [her] into believing the aforementioned sexual acts were her idea, despite the fact she was under the age of five years old when the sexual abuse began and [she] was nearly a teenager.’

It claimed that Sam Altman ‘forced [her] to touch his penis and perform oral penetration on him.’

Ann Altman claimed that because of this alleged abuse, which would happen ‘several times a week,’ she ‘suffered a loss of enjoyment of a normal life as a consequence of her emotional injuries.’

She is seeking $75,000 in legal fees and unspecified damages from a jury trial, per the complaint.

Sam Altman – who came out as gay to his parents at the age of 16 – posted a statement to social media Tuesday credited not just to himself but his mother Connie and brothers Max and Jack denying the allegations.

Sam Altman (pictured left) is denying claims by his sister Ann (pictured center-left) in a new lawsuit that the OpenAI CEO sexually abused her as a child

The 39-year-old CEO is the co-founder of the San Francisco-based company behind ChatGPT and a venture capitalist who Forbes says amassed much of his $1 billion through investments

‘Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family, and especially Sam. We’ve 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 address this,’ they wrote.

They added that Annie ‘faces mental health challenges’ and they have helped her financially – including promising to buy her a home and pay her rent and medical expenses – but said she ‘continues to demand more money from us.’

Ann has, according to Sam, his brothers, and mother, made increasingly extreme allegations against her family over the years, leading up to this lawsuit.

Those allegations included withholding her share of their late father Jerry’s 401k funds, hacking her WiFi and shadowbanning her from various social media outlets.

‘All of these claims are utterly untrue. 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 posted a thread to social media in 2021 previously accusing brothers Sam and Jack of ‘sexual, physical, emotional, financial and technological abuse’ and suggested there were more accusers out there.

Missouri state law has a statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims until the alleged victim is 31 years old. 

Ryan J. Mahoney, an attorney for Ann Altman, told Business Insider: ‘By this lawsuit, Annie is seeking what every survivor of sexual abuse wants – justice and accountability.’ 

Ann Altman, 30, filed a lawsuit Monday in a US District Court in Missouri that alleges her brother molested her between the years of 1997 – when Ann was just three years old and Sam was 12 – and 2006

The disturbing lawsuit, which names Ann Altman as the plaintiff, says that Sam ‘groomed and manipulated [her] into believing the aforementioned sexual acts were her idea, despite the fact she was under the age of five years old when the sexual abuse began and [she] was nearly a teenager’

Sam Altman posted a statement to social media Tuesday credited not just to himself but his mother Connie and brothers Max and Jack denying the allegations

He added that their client was not surprised by her family’s denial. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Mahoney and OpenAI for comment. 

Ann and her brothers have had their difficult, estranged relationship documented before, in a 2023 New York Magazine profile. 

Writer Elizabeth Weil said that Annie ‘does not exist in Sam’s public life’ and goes through her various mental health struggles, including claims that she wanted to commit suicide at age six.

In 2020, she relocated to Hawaii and in recent years has financially supported herself by doing sex work, including an OnlyFans site. 

‘As Annie tells her life story, she felt special and loved when, as a child, Sam read her bedtime stories. Now those memories feel like abuse,’ the newspaper profile claimed.

The story also said that Sam Altman has wanted to buy her a house and the family said in a statement: ‘We love Annie and will continue our best efforts to support and protect her, as any family would.’ 

Sam Altman has become a power player in tech ever since OpenAI revealed ChatGPT in November of 2022. 

Ann Altman posted a thread to social media in 2021 previously accusing brothers Sam and Jack of ‘sexual, physical, emotional, financial and technological abuse’ and suggested there were more accusers out there

Sam Altman has become a power player in tech ever since OpenAI revealed ChatGPT in November of 2022

San Francisco’s mayor-elect tapped him to join his transition team, even as the company continues to lobby the city for tax breaks.

However, 2024 was a difficult year for the CEO, with a lawsuit from Elon Musk in March and claims of a toxic workplace in May.

Musk said that when he bankrolled OpenAI’s creation, he secured an agreement with Altman and Greg Brockman, the president, to keep the AI company as a non-profit that would develop technology for the benefit of the public.

Under its founding agreement, OpenAI would also make its code open to the public instead of walling it off for any private company’s gains, the lawsuit says.

However, by embracing a close relationship with Microsoft, OpenAI and its top executives have set that pact ‘aflame’ and are ‘perverting’ the company’s mission, Musk alleges in the lawsuit. 

OpenAI responded in December by claiming that Musk said in 2017 he ‘not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit’ to serve OpenAI’s structure. 

In November 2023, when Altman was temporarily ousted from his own company for a time, a statement said his removal was due to his ‘not [being] consistently candid in his communications.’ Altman returned to ChatGPT as CEO days after he was fired. 

Two of the board members involved in the short lived ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman back in November have finally broken their silence about what occurred in a new opinion piece.

The lifting of the lid by former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley comes a week after Altman was forced to apologize to Scarlett Johansson over accusations he okayed the use of her voice without proper permission.