OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly attempted to deceive the United States government into funnelling billions of dollars into his company by conjuring a threat that may never have existed.
The 'AGI Manhattan Project' claim
According to the New Yorker, in 2017 Altman met with US intelligence officials and made a dramatic claim, that China had launched an 'AGI Manhattan Project,' a state-backed artificial general intelligence programme on par with the scale of America's World War II nuclear weapons effort. He urged that OpenAI urgently needed billions of dollars in government funding to keep pace with this supposed Chinese threat.
When officials pressed him for hard evidence, however, Altman's response was startling. He reportedly said, "I've heard things." He made similar claims across multiple meetings and promised to furnish proof, but that never came.
US Goverment saw through it
After looking into the matter, US intelligence officials found no evidence that such a Chinese AGI project existed. One official later told the publication plainly, "It was just being used as a sales pitch." The revelation suggests Altman may have deliberately exaggerated, or outright invented, a geopolitical threat to pressure the government into backing OpenAI with public funds.
Altman frequently compared AGI development to the Manhattan Project, but adjusted his framing depending on who he was speaking to. Before government officials, he stressed urgency and national competition. Before safety-conscious audiences, he pivoted to warning about the dangers of AGI and the need for careful, internationally coordinated development.
Cracks inside OpenAI
Internally, the company was not without dissent. Page Hedley, a former policy and ethics adviser at OpenAI, reportedly proposed building global partnerships between AI labs to prevent a catastrophic arms race. Leadership pushed back. Another proposal involved encouraging countries like China and Russia to bid against each other for access to OpenAI technology, a strategy modelled, in thinking at least, on nuclear-era geopolitics.
Ahead of the IPO, there is reported to be tensions between Altman and CFO Sarah Friar as well, on company readiness and financial risks.
