# Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 1: Introduction, outline, author's notes

Introduction
============

[Sam Altman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Altman)'s sister, Annie Altman, has claimed that Sam sexually abused her when she was a child for approximately 9 years, beginning when she was 3 years old and he was 12 years old, and continuing until she was approximately 12 years old and he was approximately 21 years old.

Annie has stated that she has suffered various severe forms of abuse from Sam Altman throughout her life, including sexual, physical, emotional, verbal, financial, technological (shadowbanning, hacking), pharmacological (forced Zoloft), and psychological abuse. She has also stated that she has experienced abuse from her other brother Jack Altman, though she has noted that most of the abuse she's experienced has come from Sam.

This is the 1st in a series of 11 posts I've written that attempt to provide a comprehensive, objective, and unbiased account of the situation, and the information that's currently available. 

On [January 6, 2025](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69520118/altman-v-altman/), Annie Altman filed a lawsuit against Sam Altman in the [United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69520118/1/altman-v-altman/). 

The lawsuit is ongoing. A jury trial is set to begin Monday, March 31, 2025. Key events that have occurred in the lawsuit thus far (I'll provide more detail in the 6 subsequent posts that follow this post):

*   January 6, 2025: Annie's legal counsel files a complaint against Sam Altman in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The complaint demands a jury trial.
*   January 7, 2025: Sam posts a statement from him, his brothers, and his mother in response on X (formerly Twitter.)
*   March 7, 2025: Sam's legal counsel files:
    *   A motion to dismiss Annie's "Common-Law Claims" and to dismiss or strike Annie's "Prayer for Punitive Damages."
    *   A memorandum of law in support of the above motion.
    *   "Defendant Samuel Altman's Answer and Affirmative Defenses to Plaintiff's Complaint; Counterclaims in Reply"
*   March 14, 2025: Annie's legal counsel files "Plantiff's Unopposed Motion to Extend Pleading and Briefing Deadlines"
    *   "Plantiff's Counsel is also currently set to begin a jury trial on March 31, 2025"
*   March 17, 2025: "Re: 19 Unopposed MOTION for Extension of Time...ORDERED GRANTED. Signed by District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on 03/17/2025."
*   March 31, 2025: Annie's legal counsel will begin a jury trial.
*   *Disclaimer: I am not any sort of legal professional, so it's possible that I am misunderstanding or misinterpreting some of the legal proceedings. More details & links relevant to the lawsuit will be provided in the 6 subsequent posts, such that you can check for yourself.*

I have made these posts because I think it's important to be aware that such serious claims exist about Sam, given Sam's strong influence, as CEO of [OpenAI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI), on the development and alignment of increasingly powerful AI. 

**Content warning**: Childhood sexual abuse, graphic (sexual) language, suicidal ideation. Annie's claims include graphic depictions of 9 years of severe childhood sexual abuse, and further abuse after that. This post is not light reading.

I have restructured this post
=============================

*   Prior to 3-31-2025, there was just one singular very-long post.
    *   You can what it looked like in [this capture (from 02-10-2025) on the Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20230215000000*/https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-annie-altman-claims-sam-has-severely).
*   On 3-31-2025, I split that original very-long post into a series of shorter posts. 

+++ Why I split the old (very long) post into multiple (shorter) new posts:  
  
⬇️ See dropdown section ⬇️

Before I split it up on 3-31-2025, the original very-long post post was:

*   144510 words
    *   ![](https://39669.cdn.cke-cs.com/rQvD3VnunXZu34m86e5f/images/0d3cd906bee8005d2a67dd42f986b0142e4e551954370582.png)
        
*   A "578 minute read" (according to whatever algorithm LessWrong uses to estimate the reading time of a post.)
    *   ![](https://39669.cdn.cke-cs.com/rQvD3VnunXZu34m86e5f/images/72b12304a6736cd34331a3ece7d1e76d23300f43e4c3735c.png)
        

The original post wasn't nearly as long of a read as it might seem from the numbers above. A lot of the length of the came from the \[references section\] and the \[section on common symptoms in those who've experienced child sexual abuse\], and most of the post's content wasn't technical/complex.

Still, the literal *number of words* (144510)  in the original post was a lot. 

**As the post grew longer, I experienced more and more issues while editing the post**: 

*   Sometimes, I would go to the post and click the "edit" button, and the editor would just load...an empty post. I'd then have to exit out of the editor, go to the post again, click "edit" again, and hope that the editor would load a non-blank post. There was one day where I had to do this this literally dozens of times in a row before the editor finally loaded a non-blank post.
*   When the post *did* load properly in the editor, I experienced a lot of lags when I was editing the post.
    *   Hundreds of times, I'd be typing, and then my cursor would suddenly stop blinking, and text I was typing would stop appearing on screen. Then, one of a few things would happen:
        *   The text I'd been typing (and even text I'd typed before the lag) would be deleted
        *   My cursor would suddenly appear at the top of the post, and the text I'd been typing would rapidly appear, as if being speed-typed.
        *   My browser would crash entirely, and *all* of the edits I'd made since I first opened the editor and began editing were lost.

There are multiple variables that may have caused the lags (or even others I haven't thought of):

*   the length of the post
*   the number of edits I've made to the post (I've made a lot of edits!)
*   the nature of the content in the post itself (e.g. I use a lot of collapsible sections)
*   the browser I'm using
*   the operating system I'm using
*   the computer/hardware I'm using
*   etc.

I experimented with different combinations of some these variables (though some of these variables were easier for me to change than others.) I'm still not sure *exactly* what caused the lags, but I noticed, in the course of experimenting with editing posts of different lengths in the LessWrong editor, that **I experienced far fewer lags when editing shorter posts.**

Thus, on 3-31-2025, I decided to split the post into multiple shorter posts.




+++

Outline of the series of posts
==============================

Note
----

**The 11 posts are meant to be read** ***in order.*** That is, you should read Part 1 first, then read Part 2, then Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11.

Outline
-------

*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 1: Introduction, outline, author's notes](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-1-1)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   I have restructured this post
    *   Outline of the new series of shorter posts
        *   Note
        *   Outline  -- ***you are here.***
    *   Author's Notes
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 2: Annie's lawsuit; the response from Sam, his brothers, and his mother; Timeline](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/stfKxjkrydT3uaSj9/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-2-1)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Annie's lawsuit, and the response from Sam, his brothers, and his mother
    *   Timeline
        *   Timeline (before Author's Notes)
        *   Author's Notes
        *   Timeline (after Author's Notes)
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 3: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hDnF2E4D5JaDCzhwu/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-3)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 4: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BhoyQacdEifjbGGaG/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-4)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 5: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bqsDLGWFjdYtenejq/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-5)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 6: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5wvvqmJZqHDzwegdy/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-6-1)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 7: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WkeD6BZAmjjLRcBbG/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-7)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 8: Timeline, continued](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9MwZLAvccotPpaqEN/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-8)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Timeline, continued continued
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 9: Literature on child sexual abuse and trauma](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KQhnXHWNGnmGXokYo/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-9)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Author's note
    *   Literature on child sexual abuse and trauma
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 10: Sam's response, my perspective](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/b3dLrHqc4m3qac6f6/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-10)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   Have Sam or his other family members responded to these claims?
    *   My Perspective
        *   Opening Comments
        *   How to interpret these claims?
        *   Things I find Questionable/Unexplained
        *   Anticipating and Responding to Potential Objections
        *   Responding to Objections/Comments I've Seen From Others
        *   Concluding Remarks
        *   I made an account on X (Twitter) (to reach out to Annie and Sam)
        *   Disclaimer
    *   Next post
*   [Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 11: List of Annie's online accounts, references](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/K7RbsyJYxeWAHitRF/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-11)
    *   Previous posts (which you should read first)
    *   List of Annie's various online accounts
    *   References, and key excerpts from them
        *   Wristwatch-Related References

Author's Notes
==============

+++ This post provides ***my personal understanding*** **of Annie's claims, and the situation***.* It's definitely possible that I've gotten things wrong, misinterpreted things, or been biased in how I've covered this situation, despite my best efforts not to.  
  
**I highly recommend that you go read through the references and source material yourself, and form your own understanding (as is always good epistemic practice!) (See the "**[***References, and key excerpts from them***](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her#References__and_key_excerpts_from_them)***"*** **and *****"***[***List of Annie's various online accounts***](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her#List_of_Annie_s_various_online_accounts_)***"*** **sections of this post.)**  
  
If you think I've made an error, or have relevant information I haven't covered, or just have a comment in general, feel free to leave a comment on this post, or post on X (formerly Twitter) and tag [my X account](https://x.com/pythagoras5015), or reply to a post of mine on X, or direct-message me on X, or direct-message me on LessWrong. I will try to update when I encounter new information, or errors that I've made. I'll also try to address counterarguments that I see from others. If you think there's a counterargument I haven't seen or addressed, once again, feel free to contact me (via the methods listed above.)


+++

+++ Unlike other journalists & reporters who've covered Annie's allegations, I've never personally met or interviewed Sam, Annie, or any of their family in-person. Everything in this post is just information that I found on the Internet.


+++

+++ I first published this post on [October 7, 2023](https://web.archive.org/web/20231007201253/https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-annie-altman-claims-sam-has-severely). Since then, I have made many edits to this post, both to add new information that has become available since October 7, 2023, and to try to make this post clearer, more accurate, and easier to read. You can see previous versions of this post [here on the Internet Archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20230215000000*/https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-annie-altman-claims-sam-has-severely).


+++

+++ In an attempt to make this post clearer and easier to read, I've used "collapsible" sections, like this one.   
  
You can click on the little ▶ triangle icon at the top-left of each collapsible section to un-collapse it, and reveal the hidden content in its dropdown section. You can then click the ▼ icon again to re-collapse the section, and hide its content.  
  
Some of the dropdown sections are empty, so I'll indicate when a dropdown section has content by writing "⬇️ See dropdown section ⬇️".  
  
*Don't skip the information in the nonempty dropdown sections.*


+++

+++ Throughout this post, I use in-text citations, which correspond to various references provided in the [*References, and key excerpts from them*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QDczBduZorG4dxZiW/sam-altman-s-sister-annie-altman-claims-sam-has-severely#References__and_key_excerpts_from_them) section of this post.  
  
⬇️ See dropdown section ⬇️

*   I've included them so that you can more easily see how I've constructed this timeline from the source material that I reference throughout this post (e.g. news articles, posts on social media, etc.)
*   They look like this (for example):
    *   \[AA19c\]
    *   \[EW23a\]
*   And their meanings are like this:
    *   \[AA19c\] -- "Annie Altman, 2019, c"
    *   \[EW23a\] -- "Elizabeth Weil, 2023, a"
*   Specifically:
    *   The first two upper-case letters stand for the first and last name of the author of the reference.
        *   Example: "AA" for "Annie Altman".
    *   The two numbers that follow represent the year in which the reference was published.
        *   Example: "19" for "2019".
    *   The final lower-case letter doesn't have a specific meaning. It's just for distinguishing between different references published in the same year that would otherwise look the same.
        *   Example: "\[AA19c\]" vs "\[AA19b\]".
*   You can use [Command-F/Control-F](https://libguides.coloradomesa.edu/c.php?g=1117473&p=8148996), or scroll down manually, to see the corresponding reference for each in-text citation.




+++

+++ I've purposefully aired on the side of potentially adding a bit "too much" detail in this timeline, as I'd rather do that than accidentally leave out information in a way that makes it hard to understand other events in the timeline.  
  
There are various events in the timeline that, when you first read them, may *seem* "unnecessary" or "not relevant." But, generally, I include things in the timeline for a *reason.* Often, in this timeline, earlier events sort of "set up" events that follow years later. You often need to understand various events that occur earlier on in the timeline before you can understand various events that come later.


+++

+++ Throughout this post, I've **bolded** various segments that I feel are particularly important or relevant.


+++

* * *

Next post
=========

As noted at the beginning of this post, this post is the 1st post in a series of 11 posts that are meant to be read in order.

Now that you've read this post, you should read the 2nd post ("Part 2") next:

[Sam Altman's sister claims Sam sexually abused her -- Part 2: Annie's lawsuit; the response from Sam, his brothers, and his mother; Timeline](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/stfKxjkrydT3uaSj9/sam-altman-s-sister-claims-sam-sexually-abused-her-part-2-1)