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President of the Biden-Skeptic Billionaires

Sam Altman, the OpenAI chief, has taken a profound interest in testing which Democrat could best challenge Trump in 2024. After talking with many of the party’s top operatives, he became convinced it was not Joe Biden. But… Dean Phillips?

Sam Altman has some eclectic views that don’t fit neatly into progressive dogma—but like most liberals in tech, he has been deeply unnerved by the real and growing threat of a second Donald Trump presidency.
Sam Altman has some eclectic views that don’t fit neatly into progressive dogma—but like most liberals in tech, he has been deeply unnerved by the real and growing threat of a second Donald Trump presidency. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Theodore Schleifer
November 8, 2023

This past Friday morning in San Francisco, Dean Phillips—the Democratic congressman waging a quixotic primary challenge against Joe Biden—arrived at the doorstep of one of the most important people in Silicon Valley: Sam Altman, the C.E.O. of OpenAI. A Democratic power player who, a political lifetime ago, considered running for governor of California, Altman has some eclectic views that don’t fit neatly into progressive dogma. But like most liberals in tech, he has been deeply unnerved by the real and growing threat of a second Donald Trump presidency. Thus, the Altman-Phillips summit in Russian Hill.