Open AI's Sam Altman Claims Muslim Peers Fear Speaking Up
Open AI CEO Sam Altman said on Thursday that Muslim and Arab peers in the tech industry don't feel comfortable speaking about their 'recent experiences' due to 'fear of retaliation.'...
Facts
- Open AI CEO Sam Altman said on Thursday that Muslim and Arab peers in the tech industry don't feel comfortable speaking about their 'recent experiences' due to 'fear of retaliation.'1
- In an X (formerly Twitter) post, apparently referencing the war in Gaza, Altman called on the tech community to stand united in support of 'Muslim and Arab (especially Palestinian) colleagues,' calling on everyone to 'treat each other with empathy.”2
- When an X user asked him about the experiences of his Jewish colleagues, Altman, who is Jewish, said that while many people in the industry are 'sticking up' for him, he sees 'much less of that for Muslims.'3
- Meanwhile, when another X user accused OpenAI's ChatGPT of being able to make jokes about Jews and not Muslims, Altman said, 'Both or neither should be allowed, of course.'3
- Altman’s posts come at a time when Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise in the US. In the two months following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported a 172% increase in Islamophobic incidents, while the Anti-Defamation League reported a 337% rise in antisemitic incidents.4
Sources: 1CNN, 2X, 3Forbes and 4reuters.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by FOX News. The titans of tech are learning — the same as many people across the globe — about the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and to empathize with both sides rather than rooting one way or the other. In the past, people in the tech world might not have felt comfortable speaking up, but the industry is becoming more open to diverse opinions.
- Narrative B, as provided by VentureBeat. Sam Altman deserves credit for speaking up about the plight of Palestinians, Muslims, and Arabs since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. He's one of the few tech giants to show some courage on that front. It will take more than words, though, to make tech a safe space — starting with OpenAI and other companies making their products less biased.
