Sam Altman responds to the New Yorker’s ‘incendiary’ attack on his home

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman published a blog post Friday evening in response to what appears to be an attack on his home as well The New Yorker profile raising questions about his integrity.

On Friday morning, someone allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at Altman’s home. No one was injured in the incident, and the suspect was arrested at the OpenAI headquarters, where he threatened to burn down the building. according to the San Francisco Police Department.

Although the police did not publicly identify him, Altman said that this happened a few days after the “horrific story” was published about him. He said one person suggested that the publication of the story “at a time of great concern about AI” would make things “scary” for him.

“I put it aside,” Altman said. Now I’m awake in the middle of the night and angry, I think I underestimated the power of words and stories.

The article in question was a long-form investigative article written by Ronan Farrow (who won a Pulitzer for his report that exposed the many sex crimes surrounding Harvey Weinstein) and Andrew Marantz (who has written extensively on technology and politics).

Farrow and Marantz said that in an interview with more than 100 people familiar with Altman’s work, many described Altman as “so controlling that even the people who work in the industry who put their names in the space industry, distinguish him.”

Repetition other journalists who covered Altman’s profileFarrow and Marantz said that many sources raised questions about his integrity, and an unnamed board member said that he combined “a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any way” and “a social disregard for the consequences of cheating.”

In response, Altman said that looking back, he can identify “a lot of things I’m proud of and a lot of mistakes.”

Among those flaws, he said, is a tendency to be “controversial,” which he said “has really hurt me with OpenAI.”

“I’m not proud of the fact that I mishandled the conflict with our former team that caused a lot of confusion in the company,” Altman said, possibly referring to his dismissal and immediate reinstatement as CEO of OpenAI back in 2023. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes on the crazy path of OpenAI; I’m a perfect person in the middle of a lot of trouble, I’m trying to get better every year, and I’m always working.”

He added, “I’m sorry to the people I hurt and I wish I had learned sooner.”

Altman also acknowledged that there seems to be “a lot of Shakespearean drama among the companies in our sector,” which he says is “a powerful ring of power” that “makes people do crazy things.”

Yes, the right way to deal with this problem a ring of power and destroying it, so Altman added, “I don’t mean that (artificial intelligence) is the real ring, but rather it is the intelligence that is sufficient to ‘be the one who has to control AGI.'” His solution to this problem is to “focus on sharing the technology with people at large, and no one has the ring.”

Altman concluded by saying that he welcomes “good faith criticism and debate,” while reiterating his belief that “technological progress can make the future incredibly better, for your family and mine.”

“Even though we have this conflict, we have to reduce the rhetoric and tactics and try to have fewer explosions in fewer houses, figuratively and literally,” he said.