Ann Altman, the younger sister of OpenAI CEO and founder Sam Altman, filed a lawsuit Monday in a federal court in Missouri, accusing him of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleges that the abuse occurred at the Altmans' home outside St. Louis from 1997 to 2006 and began when Mrs. Altman was three years old.
The lawsuit stated that Ms. Altman suffered physical injuries and experienced “PTSD, severe emotional distress, mental anguish and depression, which are expected to continue in the future,” as a result of the abuse.
Ms. Altman has long made similar sexual abuse claims against her brother on social media services such as X. She is represented by an Illinois-based law firm that specializes in sexual assault and harassment cases.
In a statement posted to X on Tuesday, Mr. Altman, along with his mother and two younger brothers, denied the claims. “Annie has made very hurtful and completely untrue claims about our family, and especially Sam,” the statement said. “This situation is causing tremendous pain to our entire family.”
The statement said Ms. Altman had “mental health issues” and “refuses conventional treatments and lashes out at family members who sincerely try to help.”
Ms. Altman and Mr. Altman did not respond to requests for comment.
Since OpenAI released the online chatbot ChatGPT in late 2022, Mr. Altman has gained widespread fame as the face of the global artificial intelligence boom sparked by the chatbot, which can answer questions, write poetry and even generate computer programs . In October, OpenAI completed a new financing deal that valued the company at $157 billion.
(The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing them of copyright infringement of news content related to AI systems. OpenAI and Microsoft have denied these claims.)
Ms. Altman's lawsuit asks for a jury trial and damages in excess of $75,000. Ms. Altman's attorney, Ryan Mahoney, said in an interview with The Times that the amount was the minimum needed for such a federal lawsuit. He said that if the lawsuit went to a jury trial, he and his client would demand “an amount that fully compensates my client for what happened to her.”
He added that they were also seeking damages based on Mr Altman's assets.
Mr. Mahoney said the suit was filed Monday because of a Missouri statute that allowed survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file a lawsuit up to 10 years after their 21st birthday. Mrs. Altman turned 31 on Wednesday.
