One note before we go any further here —The New Yorker published that story and Ronan and I had this conversation before we knew the full extent of the attacks on Altman’s home, so you won’t hear us talk about that directly. But just to say it: I think violence of any kind is unacceptable, these attacks on Sam were unacceptable, and that the kind of helplessness that people feel, which leads to this kind of violence, is itself unacceptable and also worth a lot more scrutiny from both the industry and our political leaders. I hope that’s clear.

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All that said, there is a lot swirling around Altman that’s fair game for rigorous reporting — the kind of reporting Ronan and Andrew set out to do. Thanks to the popularity of ChatGPT, Altman has emerged as the most visible figurehead of the AI industry, having turned a once nonprofit research lab into an almost trillion-dollar private company in just a few years. But the myth of Altman is deeply conflicted, equally defined both by his obvious dealmaking ability and his reported tendency to… well, lie to everyone around him.

The story is over 17,000 words long, and it contains arguably the definitive account of what happened in 2023 when the OpenAI board of directors very suddenly fired Altman over his alleged lying, only for him to be almost instantly rehired. It’s also a deep dive into Altman’s personal life, his investments, his courting of Middle Eastern money, and his own reflections on his past behavior and character traits that led one source to say he was “unconstrained by the truth.” I really suggest you read the entire story; I suspect it will be referenced for many years to come.