“The problem is Sam Altman”: OpenAI Insiders don’t trust CEO

April 7, 2026

TL;DR

OpenAI released policy recommendations for a future with superintelligence, emphasizing human benefit and transparency.
A New Yorker investigation casts doubt on CEO Sam Altman's trustworthiness, citing insider accounts of deception and manipulation.
Insiders describe Altman as a people-pleaser with a "sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences" of deceiving others.
Former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and research head Dario Amodei documented alleged deceptions and manipulations by Altman.
Altman disputes claims, attributes narrative shifts to AI landscape changes, and admits to past conflict avoidance.
OpenAI's policy ideas include shorter work weeks, a public wealth fund, worker protections, and a tax on automated labor.
Critics suggest OpenAI's proposals may be a distraction from public fears about AI's safety, job displacement, and energy use.
Altman has privately lobbied against stricter AI safety laws, which could be enacted if certain political parties gain control of Congress.
The article questions the public's ability to trust OpenAI's vision without trusting its leader.
Some experts believe Altman sets up structures that he later disregards when they constrain him.

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