OpenAI CEO; Pentagon deal signed the night before the Iran war
OpenAI CEO · Person
Sam Altman is CEO of OpenAI. Forbes puts his net worth at $3.3B (3 Oct 2026), drawn from stakes in Stripe, Reddit, Helion and other companies; Forbes says he holds no OpenAI equity. In early 2024 OpenAI dropped its ban on military use in favour of 'national security use cases', and AP reported that the Israeli military's use of Microsoft and OpenAI AI spiked to nearly 200 times pre-7 October levels by March 2024. Altman gave $1M to Donald Trump's inaugural committee in December 2024 and on 21 January 2025 stood in the White House to launch the $500B Stargate AI project with Trump and Larry Ellison, saying: 'I think if it were a different President, it might not have been possible.' On the night of 27–28 February 2026, hours after Trump ordered federal agencies to stop using rival Anthropic, Altman announced a Pentagon deal to put OpenAI models on classified networks; the US–Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February. The timing was excellent, for OpenAI.
Under Sam Altman OpenAI dropped its military-use ban in January 2024; AP found the Israeli military's use of Microsoft and OpenAI AI reached nearly 200 times pre-7 October levels by March 2024. Hours after Trump blacklisted Anthropic in February 2026, Altman announced OpenAI's classified Pentagon deal.
Sources: The Intercept, AP (via ABC News), Al Jazeera
He gave $1M to Trump's inaugural committee and at the Stargate launch said: 'I think if it were a different President, it might not have been possible.' Forbes puts his net worth at $3.3B and says he holds no OpenAI equity.
Sources: ABC News, ,
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Altman donated $1 million to the inaugural committee in December.
I think if it were a different President, it might not have been possible. But we are thrilled to get to do this.
Today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman addressed the United Nations Security Council on artificial intelligence.
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