Undoubtedly this news won't see the light of day on HN, but I guess we'll see.
https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&type=comment&dateRange=a...
Perhaps just EVIL? Very curious to hear what you come up with.
By the way it is interesting how often hacker news's editorial staff uses language policing to hide commentary against a specific set of people who have been involved in YC. Not lost on anyone here, certainly not me.
I know a while back you said that one of the central rules of HN is that you moderate less not more when the discussion is about Y Combinator or a Y Combinator startup.
Does this rule apply to OpenAI? After all OpenAI is probably Y Combinator’s most successful startup. And does this rule apply to Sam Altman? After all he was once the CEO of Y Combinator. And he’s currently a CEO of a Y Combinator startup.
I know you’ve also said that moderating less isn’t the same as not moderating at all. So this comment isn’t necessarily about this specific exchange. Just asking in general…
Flippant about self-annihilation / extinction. What possible indicator could be more explicit that someone is NOT NORMAL?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may...
combine that with the fact that nearly every single person interviewed for the NYT profile on him said he is a liar...
For me, that is enough reason to take the allegations seriously. They are commensurate with what is plainly observable about him.
Reuters leaves out that both law firms representing his sister retracted from the case, by themselves. When asked for comment, they basically said in lawyer speak that they lost all trust in their client.
She claims she has been abused between 1997 (Sam, 12; Annie, 3) and 2006 (Sam, 21; Annie, 12).
There are two younger brothers in the family as well. Plus the parents, who are a dermatologist and a real estate agent.
So there are either two possibilities.
neither the younger brothers, nor the father or the mother, who is a dermatologist and can see the difference between a bruise on one of her kids from hitting something like an idiot, or a fistpunch, or grabbing onto someone, have spotted any signs of sexual abuse for 9 years.
Or they are all in on it and the Altmans are the Incest Rockefellers.
Unfortunately for the tabloids, the simple answer is most likely the right one.
Both his brothers, just like Altman himself live in stable living circumstances.
According to her Instagram, his sister is an artist, entertainer, and author. A not very successful one.
It’s ok to be a dreamer, my better half is one, but if you ever lived with someone that says of themselves they are an artist, entertainer, or author, you’d know that they are very prone to mental health issues, successful or not.
If you don’t believe me, just pull up that picture of Ben Affleck having a smoke outside after going for a second rodeo with J.Lo. If you know, you know.
I think it’s a price that comes with having a very vivid mind and strong emotional feelings.
Unfortunately, these kinds of people always create a mess when they go off the beaten path, because they are very expressive in nature. If you look at her Instagram, you can see what I mean.
A reasonable mind should come to the conclusion that there is a lot more pointing into the direction that what the family states is closer to the truth than what his sister states. The rest is for a judge and jury to decide.
If she continues this even after two law firms retracting, I doubt she will stop before she’ll lose this case.
And that’s also an indicator that she might not be able to differentiate any longer that what she believes is real, is not reality.
If two different car mechanics tell you you will not survive if you take this sports car on the highway one more time and you go yolo, I know it better than the experts, you don’t need to wonder if you wake up in the ICU without legs and suffer the consequences of your own actions. Causality is a bitch.
And you think there isn't the possibility that the parents and other siblings are covering for their billionaire son, or simply in denial about it? It's not unique to the wealthy even, many families don't believe victims when the offender is from within the family, it's why many of these cases go unreported for years.
And you don't think there could be any link between her mental health issues and her being raped as a child?
Sam is a proven sociopath, compulsive liar and manipulator, I have absolutely 0 issues believing he'd kill or rape someone, even a family member