At what was meant to be a regular podcast interview, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made sure it was anything but.
Taking the stage early at a packed venue in San Francisco, Altman and OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap interrupted the usual podcast flow at the live recording of Hard Fork, hosted by The New York Times’ Kevin Roose and Platformer’s Casey Newton.
The crowd came expecting tech talk. What they got was Altman coming out swinging.
Right away, Altman challenged the journalists over The New York Times’ ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI, saying:
“Are you going to talk about where you sue us because you don’t like user privacy?”
The lawsuit claims OpenAI used Times articles without permission to train its models.
But Altman was especially upset over a recent request by the Times’ legal team – they want OpenAI to retain user chat logs, even if users asked for them to be deleted or were in private mode.
“We still love The New York Times,” he added, “but that part — we strongly disagree with.”
AI vs Media: A Bigger Battle Brewing
The public jab wasn’t just personal.
It reflects a deeper shift in how tech companies and media organizations interact.
Major publishers, including the Times, Dow Jones, and others, have taken legal action against OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic.
Their concern? That AI models trained on news articles and books could replace the very content these outlets work hard to produce.
But the courts may be leaning toward tech.
Earlier this week, OpenAI rival Anthropic scored a legal win when a judge ruled that using books to train AI could be lawful under certain conditions.
That decision could ripple through other lawsuits. It might also explain Altman’s confidence on stage.
The Zuckerberg Factor: A Talent Tug-of-War
It’s not just lawsuits that OpenAI is juggling.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been actively trying to poach OpenAI’s top minds by offering some reportedly eye-watering offers, up to $100 million in compensation.
Altman first mentioned this in a podcast hosted by his brother.
When asked whether Zuckerberg truly believes in the mission of AI superintelligence or just wants the talent, Lightcap didn’t miss a beat:
“I think he believes he is superintelligent.”
Ouch.
OpenAI and Microsoft: A Complicated Relationship
Even OpenAI’s strongest allies aren’t off-limits. Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest backer, has also become a competitor.
The two are now clashing in enterprise tools and cloud services.
Still, Altman insisted there’s mutual respect:
“We’re both ambitious companies… but there’s still deep value for both sides.”
Mental Health and ChatGPT
The conversation eventually turned to something more serious – how AI affects people in vulnerable mental states. Altman admitted it’s not an easy problem to solve.
OpenAI tries to redirect users who enter dark or dangerous territory while chatting with its models. But that’s not always enough.
“We haven’t yet figured out how a warning gets through,” Altman said.
The Bigger Picture
Altman’s combative tone may reflect how cornered OpenAI feels these days – lawsuits, PR flare-ups, competition from Meta, and tension with Microsoft are all colliding at once.
Yet it also highlights how big this moment is for the industry.
Media companies are fighting for their survival.
Tech leaders are defending how AI is built. And everyone is debating who owns content, who controls distribution, and how to keep users safe.
As for Altman, he’s not backing down anytime soon.
