Judge Throws Out Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

A federal judge has dismissed the sexual abuse lawsuit Ann Altman filed against her brother, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, ending a case that had hung over the AI executive for more than a year.

US District Judge Zachary Bluestone ruled on Tuesday that Ann Altman failed to show up for a court-ordered independent medical examination and missed other deadlines in the case, despite being warned that doing so could get the lawsuit thrown out, according to The Guardian, which first reported the ruling. The dismissal is with prejudice, meaning Ann Altman cannot refile the suit in that court.

Ann Altman had alleged that Sam Altman sexually abused her throughout her childhood. When she filed the suit last year, Sam Altman, their mother, and their brothers issued a joint statement calling the claims "deeply hurtful and entirely untrue," adding that the situation had caused "immense pain" to the family.

Bluestone's order also denied a separate request from Sam Altman's side: his motion seeking attorney fees and costs from the case was rejected.

Ann Altman's legal representation had already begun to unravel before the dismissal. Santos Perez, the lawyer who represented her, withdrew from the case earlier this month. In a statement to The Guardian, Perez said he was "no longer authorized to comment on this case" but that he "continue[s] to believe in Annie."

The ruling closes a legal chapter that had put a personal and difficult allegation into public view for one of the most prominent figures in artificial intelligence, even as the underlying claims themselves were never tested at trial. Because missed deadlines and a skipped medical exam drove the dismissal rather than a ruling on the merits of the allegations, the case ends on procedural grounds, not a judgment of truth or falsehood.

With the case dismissed with prejudice, this particular legal avenue is now closed for good.