OpenAI’s Sam Altman denies allegations of sexual abuse by Sister Ann

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s sister, Ann Altman, filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that her brother sexually abused her between 1997 and 2006.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleges the abuse took place at the family’s home in Clayton, Missouri, and began when Ann, who goes by Annie, was three and Sam was 12. filing allegations of , that the violent activities occurred “several times a week,” beginning with oral sex and later involving penetration.

The lawsuit alleges that “as a direct and proximate result of the prior acts of sexual assault” the plaintiff has experienced “severe emotional distress, mental anguish and depression which is expected to continue in the future.”

The younger Altman has publicly made similar allegations of sexual assault against his brother in the past platforms such as Xbut this is the first time she takes him to court. She is being represented by Ryan Mahoney, whose Illinois-based firm specializes in issues including sexual assault and harassment.

The lawsuit is seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000.

In a joint opinion on X Along with his mother, Connie, and his brothers Jack and Max, Sam Altman denied the allegations.

“Annie has made deeply hurtful and completely untrue allegations about our family, and Sam in particular,” the statement said. “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 address this.”

Their response says “all of these allegations are completely untrue,” adding that “this situation is causing tremendous pain to our entire family.” They said Ann Altman faces “psychological challenges” and “refuses conventional treatment and lashes out at family members who are genuinely trying to help.”

Sam Altman has gained international prominence since OpenAI’s debut of artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. Backed by Microsoftthe company was most recently valued at $157 billion, with funding from Thrive Capital, chipmaker Nvidia, SoftBank and others.

Altman was briefly removed from the CEO role by OpenAI’s board in November 2023, but was quickly reinstated due to pressure from investors and employees.

This is not the only lawsuit the tech boss is facing.

In March, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sued OpenAI and co-founders Altman and Greg Brockman, alleging breach of contract and fiduciary duty. Musk, who now runs a competing AI startup, xAI, co-founded OpenAI when it began as a nonprofit in 2015. Musk left the board in 2018 and has publicly criticized OpenAI for allegedly abandoning its original mission.

Musk is suing to prevent OpenAI from becoming a for-profit company. In June, Musk withdrew the original complaint filed in a state court in San Francisco and later filed in federal court.

Last month, OpenAI hit back at Musk, claiming in a blog post that in 2017 Musk “not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit” to serve as the company’s proposed new structure.

CLOCK: OpenAI reveals for-profit plans