Sam Altman Subpoenaed on Stage
18 comments
·November 7, 2025mediaman
jsbisviewtiful
> Serving a subpoena in this manner is for publicity, not process.
Agree - but considering all of the companies holding copyrights that are pissed at OpenAI right now it's easy to understand the message being sent with doing this in a public manner.
jaredcwhite
Best news I've heard all day. slow clap
metadope
Jumping up onto a stage, approaching uninvited, while wearing a full backpack... this kind of political stunt is ignorant and irresponsible.
Not as intrusive and obnoxious as a shaving cream pie-in-the-face, but actions like these lead to future reactionary violence from security personnel.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-ai-overlord-sam-al...
renewiltord
From a source with more info:
> Activist group Stop AI, known for organizing protests at OpenAI’s San Francisco office, also claimed responsibility. The group stated that Altman’s subpoena was tied to their upcoming trial, in which members will face charges for non-violent demonstrations aimed at halting what they describe as AI’s “existential threat to humanity.”
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/openai-sam-altman-subpeo...
IncreasePosts
Makes sense that it's from a group trying to make headlines.
Sam isn't hiding from subpoenas. How to serve him isn't really an issue. His lawyers would be very easy to find.
fusslo
Theres a few things I dont understand
Quote from the article:
> "Valerie Ibarra, a spokesperson for the public law office, provided SFGATE with a statement on Tuesday: “An investigator from the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office lawfully served a subpoena on Mr. Altman because he is a potential witness in a pending criminal case. Our investigators first made several prior attempts to serve the subpoena at Altman’s company headquarters and via its online portal.”"
The investigator made several prior attempts without success. So while I can't characterize his actions as 'hiding', I cant say that "His lawyers would be very easy to find". Additionally, depending on the type of subpoena, it may have to be served to the named individual, not to his lawyers.
Second, I don't understand how we can say that it makes sense to make headlines when the investigator is a part of the Public Defenders office, not a member of the Stop AI group. The investigator should have no desire to make headlines, unless he has some personal motive.
tptacek
Oh lord, so these are Yudkowskites?
jprd
Not sure what it is about, but love to see it!
dmix
Very classy...
uvaursi
[dead]
Serving a subpoena in this manner is for publicity, not process.
In this case the public defender is issuing a subpoena for records in relation to the trespassing case. This is in relation to OpenAI, not Sam Altman. They could serve any reasonably senior person in the company. It can also be done by certified mail.