OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looks on during OpenAI’s annual DevDay event in San Francisco, California, US, September 29, 2026. REUTERS
Sam Altman on Tuesday won the dismissal of a civil lawsuit filed by his sister accusing the OpenAI co-founder and chief executive of repeated sexual abuse more than two decades ago, an accusation he denies.
In dismissing Annie Altman’s lawsuit, US District Judge Zachary Bluestone wrote that she had refused to appear for an independent medical examination despite warnings that failure to do so would result in the case’s dismissal.
Laura Politi, a lawyer for Annie Altman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Santos Perez, a lawyer who previously represented Annie Altman in the case but withdrew this month, said in a statement, “I am no longer authorised to comment on this case, but I continue to believe in Annie.”
Lawyers for Sam Altman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sam Altman became a face of the artificial intelligence boom after the chatbot ChatGPT was released in 2022.
Annie Altman filed her lawsuit in St Louis, Missouri, federal court in January 2025.
She accused her brother of sexually abusing and raping her between 1997 and 2006 at the family home in suburban Clayton, Missouri, starting when she was 3 and he was 12. She said the last acts of sexual abuse and rape occurred when Sam Altman was an adult. He is now 41.
The Altman family has said Annie Altman has mental health challenges and received financial support. Sam Altman has said she began accusing him on social media of sexual abuse after the family rejected her demands for more funds.
