--- title: "Sam Altman Under SEC Investigation for Potentially Misleading Investors" description: "OpenAI and its embattled CEO, Sam Altman, are apparently being investigated by the SEC about statements made to the company's investors." date: "2024-02-29" modified: "2024-02-29" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sam-altman-openai-sec-investigation" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "OpenAI" - "sam altman" - "sec" - "the digest" --- # Sam Altman Under SEC Investigation for Potentially Misleading Investors ![OpenAI and its embattled CEO, Sam Altman, are apparently being investigated by the SEC about statements made to the company's investors.]() *\Image: Kent Nishimura via Getty / Futurism\* ## Probalist Agenda OpenAI and its embattled CEO, Sam Altman, are apparently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about statements made to the company's investors. As the [*Wall Street Journal* reports](), the SEC is looking at emails, including those sent by and to Altman, as its investigators figure out whether the company's investors were misled during the [November bloodbath]() that resulted in his ouster and subsequent reinstatement. During the debacle that Microsoft employees referred to as the "[Turkey-Shoot Clusterfuck]()," the company's board claimed when sacking Altman that he had not been "consistently candid in his communications" — only to reinstate him days later following an employee revolt, with a modified board that didn't include those that ousted him. Now, it seems, the SEC is trying to figure out what happened there, and if OpenAI itself was, you know, "candid" in its own communications. It's not the first time the government has come snooping around about that particular claim, either. As the [*WSJ* reported in November](), officials from the US attorney's office in Manhattan and other regulators began asking executives what they meant by that statement even as the coup was going down. ## Dueling Investigations The investigation, as the *WSJ* reports, is based in New York, where SEC officials have asked some senior OpenAI employees to preserve internal documents. This is [common practice]() in these sorts of investigations, and as the newspaper's anonymous sources close to the probe say, so too is the agency's "predictable" desire to look into the matter. News of this SEC investigation, which until now had not been made public, comes just a day after the [*New York Times* reported]() that an internal investigation into Altman's ouster by the WilmerHale law firm is "nearing its end." The CEO himself has, apparently, been telling people that the company's probe will soon be over, and that its results could be presented to the OpenAI board in early March, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the *NYT* on condition of anonymity. With [leaks]() and [tweets]() abounding, the public has still only gotten a piecemeal look into OpenAI's Thanksgiving drama — even as its products, including ChatGPT and its forthcoming [text-to-video generator Sora](), continue to make it the world's preeminent AI firm. Now, it seems, the government may force OpenAI's hand in revealing more about the fiasco. **More on OpenAI investigations:** [*OpenAI Hiring Detective to Find Who's Leaking Its Precious Info*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()