Annie Altman Amends Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Annie Altman has filed an amended civil lawsuit against her brother, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, accusing him of sexually abusing her over a span of nearly a decade. The amended complaint was submitted Wednesday in St. Louis federal court, following a judge's ruling that allowed her to pursue the case under Missouri's child sexual abuse statute.

Annie Altman alleges that Sam Altman sexually abused and raped her multiple times between 1997 and 2006 at the family's home in Clayton, Missouri — a suburb of St. Louis. She claims the abuse began when she was just three years old and her brother was 12. Sam Altman, now 40 and valued by Forbes at approximately $3.3 billion, has firmly denied all allegations.

U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone ruled on March 20 that Annie Altman's original sexual assault and sexual battery claims had expired in 2008 under the statute of limitations. However, the judge noted that Missouri's child sexual abuse law may allow certain accusers to bring forward claims from decades past, giving Annie Altman an opening to refile.

Sam Altman has responded with a defamation countersuit, citing social media posts made by his sister that referenced the alleged abuse — including a video in which she described "an almost tech billionaire" as her abuser. The Altman family has publicly stated that Annie Altman faces mental health challenges. In a legal filing, Sam Altman claimed his family had been providing her financial support, and characterized the lawsuit as an attempt at extortion.

Sam Altman co-founded OpenAI and rose to global prominence following the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, one of the most widely used AI tools in history. Attorneys representing Sam Altman had not responded to media requests for comment at the time of publication.