PU 34: Scam Altman

OpenAI founder Sam Altman in 2019 (TechCrunch)

A deep dive on investigative journalist Ronan Farrow’s profile of Sam Altman’s leadership at OpenAI. The piece lays bare many of the enduring issues that make Silicon Valley so problematic.

Punching Upwards, Episode 34 for 3 May 2026

Topics: Technology / Artificial Intelligence

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Credits

Thanks to Michael Mullan-Jensen, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Vlad A Gouf, Fadi Mansour, Bennet Piater, Eric and Sir Galteran for supporting this podcast financially and therefore making it possible for me to produce it!

See Also

• Punching Upwards 27: LLMs Are a Dead-End

• Punching Upwards 24: The ELIZA Effect

• Punching Upwards 22: Moltbook Madness

• Punching Upwards 15: State Secret or Vibe Physics?

• Punching Upwards 8: Robotics Slop

Sources

1. Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?, The New Yorker, 6 April 2026

2. The New Yorker investigates Sam Altman’s alleged deceptions at OpenAI, CNN, 7 April 2026

3. OpenAI CTO Mira Murati says she’s leaving firm to do her “own exploration”, The Guardian, 25 September 2024

4. “Unconstrained by truth”: Sam Altman profile casts doubt on his trustworthiness, News Nation, 6 April 2026

The theme music for the podcast is a track called Fight or Fall by Def Lev. Find out more about the show at fab.industries/podcast — new media, new rules!