US judge dismisses Annie Altman’s civil lawsuit against brother Sam

A US judge dismissed Annie Altman’s civil lawsuit against her brother, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, on Tuesday, according to Reuters and Dutch news agency ANP. Reuters reported that District Judge Zachary Bluestone cited her refusal to attend an independent medical examination despite warnings that failing to do so would lead to dismissal. [1] [4]

Annie Altman filed the suit in a Missouri federal court in January 2025, alleging that her brother sexually abused her during childhood, between 1997 and 2006. He denies the allegations. The reported reason for the dismissal concerns the court process, not whether the alleged abuse occurred. [2] [4]

In an earlier ruling in March, the judge dismissed her original common-law claims as time-barred but allowed her to amend the complaint. She filed an amended version on 1 April. That March ruling also allowed Sam Altman’s counterclaims for defamation and abuse of process to proceed; it is unclear what Tuesday’s reported decision means for them. [2] [3]