Sam Altman. Photo:
Mike Coppola/Getty
Sam Altman, the chief executive of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, is denying claims by his sister that he routinely raped her for several years throughout their childhood.
Ann Altman alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Missouri that Sam Altman, now 39, had “groomed and manipulated” her between the years of 1997 and 2006, accusing her brother of “rape, sexual assault, molestation, sodomy, and battery,” beginning when she was 3 years old and he was 12.
The executive, his mother, and siblings responded with a statement accusing his now 30-year-old sister of having “mental health challenges” and alleging that she has previously attempted to extort them.
“All of these claims are utterly untrue,” Sam Altman said in a statement on X, released alongside his mother and two brothers. “Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult.”
The Altman family statement alleged they have “given her monthly financial support, directly paid her bills, covered her rent, helped her find employment opportunities, attempted to get her medical help, and have offered to buy her a house through a trust,” but that “despite this, Annie continues to demand more money from us.”
“Annie has made deeply hurtful and entirely untrue claims about our family,” the family’s statement continued.
The lawsuit, obtained and reviewed by PEOPLE, alleges Sam Altman “regularly continued to commit numerous acts of rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, molestation, sodomy, and battery” against Ann over the ensuing years, claiming the abuse continued when Sam was an adult and Ann was still underage.
The filing in the Eastern District of Missouri alleges that Ann has suffered from physical injuries, as well as “PTSD, severe emotional distress, mental anguish, and depression” due to her brother’s alleged abuse.
Sam Altman. Stefano Guidi/Getty
Ann previously made similar allegations of sexual abuse against her brother on social media, according to the BBC.
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In her filing Monday, attorneys for Ann asked that Sam Altman pay his sister $75,000 in damages. The Silicon Valley executive, who was briefly ousted as CEO of OpenAI before returning to the helm a few days later, has an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, according to CNBC. The company was valued at $157 billion in November.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
