OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was served with a subpoena live onstage
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman received a subpoena while on stage at a live event in San Francisco last week, meaning he will have to appear as a witness in an upcoming criminal trial involving anti-AI protesters.
The man was an investigator with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, a city agency representing people who cannot afford private attorneys in criminal cases. The office confirmed to local news outlet SFGate that it had been trying to reach Altman for some time.
The investigator served the document on Altman “because he is a potential witness in a pending criminal case,” an office spokesperson said. “Our investigators initially made multiple attempts to serve the subpoena at Altman’s corporate headquarters and through its online portal.”
The subpoena is related to a criminal case involving the activist group Stop AI, which staged protests outside OpenAI headquarters. Some members are on trial after allegedly blocking entrances to its San Francisco offices in February. Altman is now scheduled to appear as a witness in the case.
In a statement, Stop AI said its actions were aimed at resisting what it sees as a global existential threat. “All of our nonviolent actions against OpenAI were an attempt to slow OpenAI in its attempt to murder everyone and every living thing on Earth,” he said. “This trial will be the first time in human history that a jury of normal people will be asked about the threat of extinction that AI poses to humanity.”
The interruption came during a discussion about technology, inequality and wealth. Altman was asked about the gap between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s $179 billion fortune and the millions of Americans who no longer have access to food assistance, but he said Huang “is not responsible for the loss of benefits” and has done “wonderful things for the country and the economy,” according to the Daily Mail.
