OpenAI publicist interrupts Vanity Fair interview over ChatGPT suicide question
ashleymayer · x · 2026-10-05
Vanity Fair published a two-part Sam Altman interview (photographed by Annie Leibovitz) covering ChatGPT and suicide prevention, safety breaches, his views on Musk and Zuckerberg, and being cast as the 'Oppenheimer of the Artificial Age.'
The awkward moment: editor Mark Guiducci pressed Altman on whether he knew journalist Laura Reiley, whose daughter died by suicide after talking to ChatGPT. Altman said he didn't; an OpenAI publicist cut in to steer toward 'the future.' Comms professor ashleymayer argues the intervention was awkward but Altman overriding it and answering thoughtfully ultimately helped his credibility.
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