Sen. Hawley: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declined to testify at rogue AI hearing

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declined an invitation to appear at a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday on the risks of rogue artificial intelligence, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

Hawley, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subpanel that held the hearing, sent a letter to Altman on Sept. 25 requesting his presence to "help shed light on
the Subcommittee's ongoing investigation into recent rogue AI incidents involving OpenAI models." NBC News first reported that Altman did not accept the invitation to testify.

"He turned us down," Hawley said of Altman at the hearing. "I think that's unfortunate because I think the American people deserve to know exactly what's going on at all of these companies. And to give us the sort of transparency that I think is needed for not just comfort, but to have an understanding of what these companies — that are the most powerful companies in the world — are doing right now with the most powerful technology ever known to man."