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Entrepreneur and investor Sam Altman has been accused of “abuse” by his sister, Ann “Annie” Altman. She filed a lawsuit against him on Monday, January 6, 2025, at the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Trigger warning: This article has references to sexual assault, abuse, and more. Readers’ discretion is advised.
Annie's civil suit alleges that Sam Altman s*xually assaulted her at their family home in Clayton, Missouri, between 1997 and 2006. Ann Altman has also accused the OpenAI CEO of engaging in oral s*x and penetration “several times per week” when she was three and he was 12.
"At all times relevant herein, Defendant, Sam Altman, groomed and manipulated Plaintiff, Ann Altman, into believing the aforementioned s*xual acts were her idea, despite the fact she was under the age of five years old when the s*xual abuse began and Defendant was nearly a teenager," the lawsuit read.
Sam Altman has refuted all the claims in Annie's lawsuit, saying they were “utterly untrue.” In his statement, he alleged that Ann was suffering from “mental health challenges” and refused to take help.
The statement came from him and their mother, Connie, and two brothers, Jack and Max.
Exploring Ann Altman’s accusations against brother Sam Altman
According to the court documents obtained by CNBC, Ann Altman has accused Sam Altman of childhood s*xual abuse that reportedly spanned across a decade. The suit has alleged that “as a direct and proximate result of the foregoing acts of s*xual assault,” the plaintiff has experienced “severe emotional distress, mental anguish, and depression, which is expected to continue into the future.”
In addition, the complaint has claimed that the yearlong alleged s*xual, physical, and psychological abuse has led to "a loss of enjoyment of a normal life as a consequence of her emotional injuries."
Ann Altman is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages of $75,000 and above. Illinois-based attorney Ryan J. Mahoney, whose firm specializes in s*xual assault/harassment cases, is representing her. Mahoney told Business Insider that the denial was expected, and his client was seeking what every survivor sought, “justice and accountability.”
This is not the first time Ann has made such accusations against Sam. In November 2021, she tweeted that she “experienced s*xual, physical, emotional, verbal, financial, and technological abuse from my biological siblings, mostly Sam Altman and some from Jack Altman.”
"I feel strongly that others have also been abused by these perpetrators. I'm seeking people to join me in pursuing legal justice, safety for others in the future, and group healing. Please message me with any information, you can remain however anonymous you feel safe," she wrote at the time.
Subsequently, Annie also advocated for OpenAI techie Suchir Balaji, who died from an apparent suicide in November 2024. She showed solidarity for Suchir’s mother, Poornima Rao, who has made a series of posts alleging her son was murdered for exposing the unethical practices at the company. Both Poornima and Ann used the hashtag #JusticeToSuchirBalaji in their posts.
More about Sam Altman’s statement amid sister’s lawsuit
On January 8, Sam Altman addressed the allegations brought by his sister against him via a social media post issued on behalf of the family.
“Our family loves Annie and is very concerned about her well-being. Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult. We know many families facing similar challenges understand this well. Over the years, we’ve tried many ways to support Annie and help her find stability,” the X post began.
The Oklo Inc. chairman explained that the family sought “professional advice” to help Ann and be “supportive without enabling harmful behaviors.” This included reportedly offering her monthly financial support (via their late father’s estate), directly paying her bills, covering her rent, helping her find suitable jobs, offering medical assistance, and buying her a house through a trust.
“Despite this, Annie continues to demand more money from us. In this vein, 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,” the post added.
The statement listed Annie’s previous allegations against the family, such as “improperly withholding” their father’s $401k worth of funds, hacking her WiFi, and “shadowbanning” her from platforms including X, ChatGPT, and others. However, the worst, according to the Altman family, has been the latest s*xual abuse allegation against Sam and others.
Sam, in his statement, said that the “situation has caused immense pain” to the family, adding it was “gut-wrenching” because Ann refused “conventional treatment” and has reportedly been lashing out at family members, who were genuinely trying to help.
The Altmans have asked for “understanding and compassion” as they try to tread through the legal drama and “support” Annie in the “best way” they can. They also hope that Annie finds the “stability and peace” she’s been looking for.
Sam Altman is openly gay and has been married to engineer Oliver Mulherin since January 2024.
