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The New Republic | The AI Industry Is Discovering That the Public Hates It by Luke Barnes

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The article describes a rapidly growing public backlash against artificial‑intelligence technology, illustrated by recent politically motivated attacks on AI leaders and a wave of negative sentiment revealed in surveys—only about a quarter of Americans view AI’s impact on jobs and the economy positively, while Gen Z enthusiasm has fallen sharply. It argues that this hostility stems from the AI industry's tone‑deaf messaging, which swings between doomsday warnings and promises of massive productivity gains that empirical studies have largely failed to deliver, while demanding billions in investment and expanding data‑center footprints that raise local electricity costs. Although firms such as OpenAI and Microsoft have issued policy papers and community‑focused initiatives, the piece contends these promises lack independent accountability and often conflict with actions that protect corporate interests. To restore trust, the author calls for genuine transparency, meaningful regulation, and democratic input on data‑center development rather than further white papers or rhetoric.

#SamAltman #OpenAI #ArtificialIntelligence #bigtech #SiliconValley #DarioAmodei #RonanFarrow

AI generated summary, Read the full article for complete information.

The AI Industry Is Discovering That the Public Hates It

If there was any doubt over the brewing public backlash to this technology, the last few weeks have erased it.

The New Republic

Anthony Apr 17

I thought the Ronan Farrow/Andrew Marantz New Yorker article on OpenAI and Sam Altman in particular reveals many important details and helps settle several speculations (e.g. about what happened when Altman was briefly fired from OpenAI). The overall portrayal of Altman as frankly a compulsive liar is much needed.

However, like many Farrow and Marantz seem to take the so-called "existential risk" framing of AI seriously. I really wish people would stop doing that. In this case it makes the article feel incoherent in places.

This technology by itself does not pose a unique risk. It's the people, organizations, and governments around it, and their behavior with respect to it, that generate risk. Treating the technology alone as uniquely existentially risky provides cover for a wide variety of bad actors to both continue doing their work as well as to shrug and say "oops" if something goes catastrophically wrong or if smaller harms accumulate into intolerably large ones. The very framing provides an accountability shield, which by my read contradicts what Farrow himself suggests is needed, namely more accountability. I take this from this article, his previous work, and comments he makes in interviews (e.g., this one with Decoder.

We need to stop catastrophizing. It's thought and action terminating.

#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #OpenAI #SamAltman #RonanFarrow #AndrewMarantz #NewYorker #xrisk #ExistentialRisk #AISafety

Ronan Farrow on Sam Altman's strained relationship with the truth | Decoder

YouTube

Pivot to AI [Unofficial]Apr 13

AI doomsday cultist throws Molotov at Sam Altman’s house

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/04/13/ai-doomsday-cultist-throws-molotov-at-sam-altmans-house/

The Hollywood Reporter Apr 11

Sam Altman Confirms Molotov Cocktail Incident and Responds to “Incendiary” New Yorker Investigation
#GeneralNews #OpenAI #RonanFarrow #SamAltman #Thenewyorker

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/sam-altman-molotov-cocktail-new-yorker-investigation-1236561709/

Sam Altman Confirms Molotov Cocktail Incident and Responds to “Incendiary” New Yorker Investigation

The OpenAI CEO covers a lot of ground in the personal blog post, shared Friday afternoon, by opening up on Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz’s investigation and reliving his past mistakes.

The Hollywood Reporter

Antisap' 🖤 🏴 🎶Apr 10

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn7ZjF60k5Y&pp=0gcJCdoKAYcqIYzv

#IHIPNews: #RonanFarrow on #OpenAI and #SamAltman
#tech

IHIP News: AI CEO Sam Altman EXPOSED as SOCIOPATH! Could AI Kill Us All?!

YouTube

The Bad Place Apr 9

yahoo news | Ronan Farrow on Sam Altman and the Fight Over AI’s Future

Ronan Farrow, the journalist famed for exposing Harvey Weinstein, has turned his investigative lens to the rise of OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman and the culture fueling the AI boom. Drawing on more than a hundred interviews and extensive internal documents, Farrow paints a nuanced portrait of Altman—a billionaire visionary whose leadership is simultaneously praised for accelerating AI development and condemned for alleged dishonesty and a lack of transparency. The reporting also surfaces personal accusations from Altman’s sister, Annie, alleging sexual abuse—claims he denies—while Farrow acknowledges the difficulty of independently verifying such allegations.

The bulk of Farrow’s story centers on the dramatic boardroom upheaval that began in November 2023, when OpenAI’s board abruptly ousted Altman for “lack of candor.” The move triggered a near‑universal employee backlash, a swift public campaign for his reinstatement, and intervention from allies like Microsoft. Within days the board reversed its decision, reinstalling Altman and reshuffling its own leadership. Farrow interprets this episode as a clash between principled safety advocates and profit‑driven forces, noting that many board members lacked Silicon‑Valley experience and were swayed by poor legal counsel, allowing capitalism to trump ethical concerns.

Beyond the personal drama, Farrow argues that the episode reveals deeper systemic problems in the AI industry: a culture built on hype, inflated valuations, and a tacit acceptance of deception as a “cost of doing business.” He warns that economic incentives are outpacing oversight, leaving safety and accountability gaps that could affect society at large. As AI’s influence expands across economies and daily life, Farrow’s investigation suggests the critical question is not simply who is building these systems, but whether any mechanisms exist to keep them in check.

#ronanfarrow #samaltman #openai #microsoft #siliconvalley

Ronan Farrow on Sam Altman and the Fight Over AI’s Future

The reporter's explosive profile of the tech mogul has readers talking.

Yahoo Finance

Pappy Apr 7

Interesting thread from #RonanFarrow about his article in the #NewYorker about #SamAltman and #OpenAI. One thing that caught my attention was this characterization of AI companies in general as "too big to fail." That they could themselves take the US economy down with them, so to speak.

https://www.threads.com/@ronanfarrow/post/DWzNOMlkYlB?xmt=AQF0sXmS1epQ6gsnO_wr2qrRDlJQDmYqxyPHP7WobWYzz4Rt3qkLJVACGWZayF1XAuQ3PI77&slof=1

Ronan Farrow (@ronanfarrow) on Threads

(🧵1/16) For the past year and a half, I've been investigating OpenAI and Sam Altman for @newyorkermag. With my coauthor @andrewmarantz, I reviewed never-before-disclosed internal memos, obtained 200+ pages of documents related to a close colleague, including extensive private notes, and interviewed more than 100 people. A thread on some of of our findings:

Threads

☮ ♥ ♬ 🧑‍💻Apr 7

“This account of Altman’s time at #YCombinator is based on discussions with several Y.C. founders and partners, in addition to contemporaneous materials, all of which indicate that the parting was not entirely mutual. On one occasion, Graham told Y.C. colleagues that, prior to his removal, “Sam had been lying to us all the time.”

YC founders deceived …

““Guys, I’ve had enough,” Musk replied. “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit”—otherwise “I’m just being a fool who is essentially providing free funding for you to create a startup.” He quit, acrimoniously, five months later.”

Mini Oligarchs ripping off Oligarchs …

“Carroll Wainwright, another researcher, said that they were part of a “continual slide toward emphasizing #products over #safety.” After the release of #GPT-4, Leike e-mailed members of the board. “OpenAI has been going off the rails on its mission,” he wrote. “We are prioritizing the product and #revenue above all else, followed by AI capabilities, research and scaling, with alignment and safety coming third.” He continued, “Other companies like Google are learning that they should deploy faster and ignore safety problems.”

Profit over safety …

This “ #Altman / #OpenAI / #AI meets #Startups and AI Engineers” story by #RonanFarrow and #AndrewMarantz in the #NewYorker is everything you expect from USA tech and #SiliconValley these days.

#AI / #finance / #pathology <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trusted > (paywall) / <https://archive.md/a2vqW> / <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47659135>