In recent months, a shocking narrative began to crystallize around the leadership at OpenAI: Sam Altman is a liar. More precisely, multiple credible sources say Altman has on multiple occasions repeatedly misled his own board, withheld critical information, and fostered a culture where oversight became impossible. And if the CEO of a company publicly chasing trillion-dollar valuations and engaging in circular deals is lying, then everything about the valuation, the funding, and the hype behind the chase becomes deeply suspect.
At DOMINAIT.ai we have been calling out the inflated numbers, the circular deals and the lack of real profitability for some time. But now this new wave of “Sam Altman is a liar” claims provides real context… not just that the numbers don’t add up, but that the person behind them may be untrustworthy. And if the leader cannot be trusted, can any of his claims be trusted?
Believe me when I say I wasn’t expecting to wake up to an article about Ilya Sutskever, Co-Founder at OpenAI and a Computer Scientist, who downright made the claim… saying Sam Altman has a “consistent pattern of lying.”
The Evidence Stack: Altman, Lies & The Board
What is the evidence that Sam Altman is a liar? It’s far stronger than mere speculation.
Former OpenAI board member Helen Toner, speaking publicly for the first time, said:
“For years, Sam had made it really difficult for the board to actually do its job by withholding information. Misrepresenting things that were happening at the company, in some cases outright lying to the board.”
Toner cited concrete qualms: for example, when ChatGPT launched in November 2022, the board wasn’t informed; “We learned about ChatGPT on Twitter.” She also alleged Altman didn’t disclose his ownership of OpenAI’s startup fund while claiming to be independent.
In the public domain:
- OpenAI’s board fired Altman on November 17 2023, saying he “was not consistently candid in his communications with the board.”
- Though he was reinstated days later, the underlying trust breakdown remained. A review by the law-firm Wilmer Hale concluded it was a “breakdown in relationship and loss of trust” rather than outright misconduct.
- Yet the open independent review revealed “many instances” of Altman saying different things to different people.
To summaries bluntly: the board believed Altman was lying, and ultimately, Altman was dismissed. He returned… Because… reasons. But the pattern of deception remains on the record. Which raises the big question for any investor or partner: if the CEO is a liar, then what else is fabricated? Is this Trillion dollar IPO chase something people should get involved in, in any way whatsoever?
Circular Deals, Inflated Valuations & The Trust Gap
Why does this matter? Because you can’t build credibility while lying. We can all make claims of a trillion dollar valuation. But if it’s not true, it puts every single investor in danger. Public (if the company goes IPO) and private.
At DOMINAIT.ai we talk frequently now about circular deals nowadays.. financial loops in the AI industry where companies book “investments” or “partnerships” that never actually change hands, simply to inflate valuations, raise debt, create hype, and generate FOMO for future investors and customers.
Photo courtesy of CNBC
If Sam Altman is a liar, then every claim from OpenAI about its valuation, its deals, or its earnings must be questioned.
When he sits at the center of those circular deals, it reveals structural weakness. A liar can sustain hype until one day the truth catches up.
When we examined OpenAI’s fundraising: over $16.4 billion raised, projected revenue of perhaps $12.7 billion by 2025, and losses of billions, while yet a trillion-dollar valuation is still floated in the spotlight. That math doesn’t add up. But when the CEO may be lying, you realize it was never about the numbers. It was about the narrative being pushed to the public, and apparently, to the employees and even the board members.
Why DOMINAIT.ai Does Things Differently
At DOMINAIT.ai and Jason Criddle & Associates, we rejected hype long ago. We rejected MVP launches purely for investor optics. We rejected raising huge valuations before generating value. We rejected circular deals and meaningless “investments.” I learned with one of my first companies that raising investments without a profitable product in place yet can turn into headaches and miscommunication far more than it can be helpful.
While I never lost the trust of any of my investors, I know for certain no one liked hearing me on a phone call letting them know I didn’t have their money yet. Simply because they didn’t understand we were still building a product and not yet at a point in revenue for the foreseeable future. And even after we launched, it took multiple iterations before we were ever able to generate any real customer interest. That’s why we do things differently now.
It would have been just as easy to take that path with Ryker.
Instead:
- We built the system around real user value.
- We waited to launch until the product worked.
- We refused valuations that came with strings or lost control of purpose.
- We believe in honesty, transparency and real funding.
When you face a market where the CEO of one of the top AI companies is alleged to be a liar, you differentiate yourself by being credible, accountable, and value-driven.
The Risk for Investors & Users
If Sam Altman is a liar, then anyone investing in OpenAI or relying on its statements is exposed. And when those statements include circular deals and hype valuations, the exposure becomes dramatic.
Imagine:
- A company announces a circular deal worth billions.
- People assume money flows in.
- Investors assume value is created.
- But if the CEO is lying, maybe none of it ever existed.
That risk cascades: the valuations collapse, the product fails to deliver, jobs are lost, and users suffer. If the company goes public, institutional investors will make multiples on their money, and then crash the stock, while the general public who invested will be made to suffer. It’s not just theory. We’ve seen bubbles of this nature before.
At DOMINAIT.ai we are building for the long-term, not the headlines. We are working to earn trust, not gamble on hype. We are working to deliver real value, not rely on circular deals or untrustworthy leadership. I remember making an image of OpenAI testifying before Congress about how they crashed the economy. Unfortunately, I have a habit of seeing things before they happen. And although it was just theories at the time, it’s looking like the real narrative more and more every day.
Looking Ahead: Transparency, Governance & Realistic AGI
One of the gravest concerns in the AI field is institutionalizing trust. For a company claiming to lead toward AGI (artificial general intelligence)… if you cannot trust the CEO to tell the truth to his board, how can you trust the system?
At DOMINAIT.ai we are building infrastructure, products, and an ecosystem with honesty encoded at every level. Because if the leader is a liar, the rest of the architecture collapses.
For those investing in the AI future, the question isn’t only “who will build AGI?” It’s “who will build it with integrity?” At a moment when circular deals dominate headlines, the lack of honesty from one of AI’s leading firms is a glaring red-flag. Some of us do dream of being trillionaires. But it can only happen with integrity.
My Final Word
If there is a chance that Sam Altman is a liar, then his claims of trillion-dollar valuations, strategic partnerships, massive fundraises, and circular deals must be re-examined. At DOMINAIT.ai we see through the hype. We reject circular deals built for optics. We choose transparency, accountability and value. Because in the race toward AGI and real intelligence, credibility is the ultimate asset.
References and Citations
- “Former OpenAI Board Member Explains Why CEO Sam Altman Was Fired” — CNBC, May 29 2024.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/29/former-openai-board-member-explains-why-ceo-sam-altman-was-fired.html - “Former OpenAI Board Member Helen Toner Dishes on Reasons Why They Ousted Sam Altman” — The Daily Beast, May 29 2024.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-openai-board-member-helen-toner-dishes-on-reasons-why-they-ousted-sam-altman - “Sam Altman Fired From OpenAI Amid Board Allegations of Dishonesty” — Cointelegraph, Nov 2023.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/sam-altman-fired-openai-board-allegations - “Sam Altman Departs OpenAI After Board Loses Confidence in Him” — TIME Magazine, Nov 17 2023.
https://time.com/6337102/sam-altman-departs-openai - “OpenAI Has ‘Full Confidence’ in CEO Sam Altman After Investigation, Reinstates Him to Board” — Associated Press (AP News), Mar 8 2024.
https://apnews.com/article/2f3303dff2280478947e9bfb04863537 - “OpenAI Responds to Warnings of Self Governance by Former Board Members” — Reuters / The Economist Coverage, May 30 2024.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/openai-responds-warnings-self-governance-by-former-board-members-economist-2024-05-30 - “OpenAI Files: CEO Integrity and Leadership Review Summaries” — The OpenAI Files Archive (Independent Repository).
https://www.openaifiles.org/ceo-integrity - “Why Sam Altman Was Fired From OpenAI — And Why He Came Back” — Wall Street Journal, Nov 2023.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/openai-sam-altman-fired-return-ai-9c4fe451 - “AI Researcher Gary Marcus Calls Out Sam Altman’s Behavior Patterns and Body Language Tells” — Futurism, June 2024.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/gary-marcus-sam-altman-tell - “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Accused of ‘Psychological Abuse’ and Manipulation by Former Staff” — Transformer News, June 2024.
https://transformer.news/openai-altman-board-allegations - “OpenAI Leadership Meltdown: Employees and Ex-Board Members Describe Toxic Culture” — Quartz, June 2024.
https://qz.com/openai-leadership-meltdown-altman-lies-board-1851597483 - “OpenAI Fires Co-Founder and CEO Sam Altman for Allegedly Lying to Company Board” — The Guardian, Nov 17 2023.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/17/openai-ceo-sam-altman-fired
I am Jason Criddle, Founder of Jason Criddle & Associates, SmartrHoldings and all of its brands… Carbon, DOMINAIT.ai, RezultDriven, SmartrCommerce, SmartrHoldings, SmartrLiving, SmartrMarketing, SmartrVeterans, SmartrWomen, TheRealJasonCriddle, TVBuilderPro, TVStartupNow, and the brand that started me on my path to leadership and building wealth for others and myself, Wellness by Jason.
I’ve authored 19 books, a dozen of which, I was blessed with them becoming best sellers. I write extensively online and on all of the blogs on the websites I own, as well as Quora when I get a chance.
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