Tucker Carlson Presses Sam Altman Over OpenAI Whistleblower Death

Tucker Carlson (Right bias) published an hour-long video interview with OpenAI founder Sam Altman on Wednesday, where he confronted Altman on the November death of an OpenAI whistleblower and pressed him on other AI-related questions.

The Details: Carlson asked Altman about his own spiritual beliefs, ChatGPT’s moral framework, users who may be contemplating suicide, and several other topics. He also questioned Altman on the death of 26-year-old Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI employee who criticized the company after leaving and alleged it illegally used copyrighted data in its development.

Key Exchange: Altman called Balaji’s death a “great tragedy” and said, “It looks like a suicide to me.” Carlson asked, “Why does it look like a suicide?” Altman replied, “It was a gun he had purchased… this is like gruesome to talk about, but I read the whole medical record. Does it not look like one to you?” Carlson answered, “No, he was definitely murdered, I think. There were signs of a struggle, of course, the surveillance camera, the wires had been cut, he had just ordered take-out food, come back from a vacation with his friends on Catalina Island.” Carlson later added, “His mother claims he was murdered on your orders.” Altman replied, “Do you believe that?” Carlson said it’s “worth looking into.”

How The Media Covered It: Forbes (Center) said the “conspiracy theory” that Balaji was murdered “has been spread by such high-profile figures as Altman’s longtime rival,” Elon Musk. Forbes noted the official report found “no foul play,” no signs of forced entry into the apartment, and a blood alcohol concentration of 0.178%. ZeroHedge (Lean Right) noted Carlson’s “characteristic boldness” and wrote that Carlson’s “journalistic instincts [were] clearly telling him there was more to this story than met the eye.” ZeroHedge and other outlets on the right, like Breitbart (Right), highlighted that Elon Musk reposted the exchange on X and wrote, “He was murdered.”

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.