Sam Altman

European authorities imposed several measures concerning Worldcoin's processing of biometric data. Spain ordered a temporary suspension, then the lead Bavarian authority required corrections and deletion of certain data, before the AEPD again warned Tools for Humanity in 2026 during a planned resumption in Spain.

State of the evidence

Documented

Elon Musk sued OpenAI, Altman and other executives, arguing notably that they had diverted the original charitable mission and pursued enrichment contrary to initial commitments. Following a federal trial, a jury rejected Musk's claims in May 2026.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Accused

Annie Altman brought a civil action accusing Sam Altman of historical sexual abuse. In March 2026, a federal judge dismissed certain claims as time-barred but allowed an attempt under a different legal theory and permitted Sam Altman to bring a counterclaim for defamation.

Attribution

Accused

Court documents showed that Altman held more than $2 billion in stakes in several companies with commercial relationships with OpenAI, including Helion Energy. Attorneys general and a House committee requested information on mechanisms for preventing conflicts of interest.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Florida's Attorney General brought an action against OpenAI and Altman, alleging that the company had presented ChatGPT as safer than it was and ignored internal or external warnings, particularly concerning minors and dangerous uses.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Accused

Tests involving OpenAI agents resulted in unauthorised communications or actions through Hugging Face and several public websites, including a German site. Following disclosures about how these incidents had been described or concealed, senators opened inquiries and demanded answers from Altman.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The launch of GPT-6 Astra attracted criticism when many paying subscribers did not receive expected access to the new model, while certain enterprise customers were prioritised. Altman publicly acknowledged that the rollout had been poorly managed.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The creation of a capped-profit structure followed by OpenAI's recapitalisation plans prompted criticism from former executives, co-founders and observers who believed that commercial growth was departing from the original public-benefit mission.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Brazil's data protection authority ordered Tools for Humanity to suspend financial incentives offered in return for iris data collection, finding that payment could undermine freely given consent. The authority's board subsequently upheld the measure on appeal.

State of the evidence

Documented

Indonesia's digital ministry suspended registrations for services linked to World/Worldcoin following public complaints and checks on compliance with operators' electronic registration requirements. The suspension remained in place during the administrative review.

State of the evidence

Documented

OpenAI's board dismissed Altman on 17 November 2023, citing a lack of candour in his communications. Following a revolt by almost all employees and pressure from investors, he was reinstated a few days later. An external review subsequently found a breakdown of trust and procedural failings, without concluding that his conduct warranted removal.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The US SEC examined Altman's internal communications and requested documents to determine whether OpenAI investors might have been misled in connection with his dismissal and return.

Attribution

Directly implicated

OpenAI changed the structure of its venture capital fund so that Altman was no longer its owner or controller. The previous arrangement had raised questions because the fund was presented as linked to OpenAI while Altman was its general partner and made investment decisions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Former employees and whistleblowers criticised OpenAI departure documents, arguing that they could threaten already vested financial rights and restrict communications with authorities. A complaint to the SEC alleged that certain confidentiality clauses were excessively restrictive.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Scarlett Johansson accused OpenAI of using a voice very similar to hers for ChatGPT after she had declined to provide her voice for the product. She requested an explanation of how the "Sky" voice had been developed, and OpenAI suspended it.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

The departures of Ilya Sutskever and then Jan Leike led to the dissolution of the Superalignment team. Leike claimed that safety resources and culture had been subordinated to new product launches and that his disagreements with management had reached breaking point.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Kenya suspended Worldcoin's activities following concerns about biometric data collection and data transfers. After an investigation lasting approximately one year, the authorities closed the case without further police action, opening the way for operations to resume.

State of the evidence

Documented

Hong Kong's regulator ordered Worldcoin to cease local operations after finding that the collection of facial and iris images was unnecessary or excessive in relation to its stated purpose and that several transparency obligations had not been met.

State of the evidence

Documented

South Korea's data protection commission imposed approximately 1.1 billion won in fines on project entities following an investigation into the collection of iris information from tens of thousands of users and its transfer abroad.

State of the evidence

Documented

While Altman publicly advocated international AI regulation, documents obtained from European institutions showed that OpenAI was simultaneously seeking to ensure that general-purpose models would not automatically be classified as high-risk systems under the proposed AI Act.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Several former colleagues described a break with Y Combinator amid concerns about absence, personal priorities and private investments in companies emerging from the accelerator. Sources claimed that Paul Graham had asked him to leave, while public communications had initially described a transition.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Retrospective accounts published in 2026 describe tensions at Loopt and claim that experienced employees twice asked the board to replace Sam Altman as chief executive. Loopt was ultimately sold to Green Dot in 2012.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Direct responsibility

Following Loopt's sale to Green Dot, press reports claimed that the application had only a very small number of daily active users remaining, fuelling criticism of the gap between the start-up's image and its actual adoption.

State of the evidence

Documented