OpenAI publicist interrupts question on ChatGPT user’s suicide

An OpenAI publicist interrupted Sam Altman’s Vanity Fair interview to ask editor Mark Guiducci to move on from a question about a ChatGPT user who died by suicide. Altman said he would answer, and discussed the difficulty of handling suicide-related questions and whether users’ private data should be shared without their consent. The exchange concerned Laura Reiley, a journalist who wrote about her daughter Sophie Rottenberg’s use of ChatGPT before her death. Guiducci began asking Altman about Reiley and the case when the publicist cited the time remaining and proposed turning to other topics. Altman said he could run a few minutes over and wanted to respond. OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the interview had exceeded its scheduled time and that the company sought additional time to continue the discussion after Altman addressed the topic. The sources do not independently establish the publicist’s intent beyond the company’s explanation. In his answer, Altman called questions about suicide among the hardest issues facing technology developers.