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Austin Petersmith (tweeted 2026-04-08) defends Sam Altman, claiming Altman…

2026-04-08 · 17:58 UTC ·@chasebrignac ·2 min read

Brief

Austin Petersmith defends Sam Altman (tweeted Apr 8, 2026), arguing Altman’s actions are not malicious: he wired personal cash to startups during the SVB collapse, shielded Parker Conrad from VCs, created a free Stanford entrepreneurship course viewed by millions, scaled YC into a hundreds-of-millions-dollar engine, inspired 90%+ employee loyalty, and helped bring about ChatGPT and broad economic and scientific gains.

Why it matters

Austin Petersmith (tweeted 2026-04-08) defends Sam Altman, claiming Altman “didn’t personally kill someone,” that his products are “objectively good,” and that when he lied it was usually to “get shit done” rather than to harm others.

Key details

  • Petersmith cites concrete interventions: during the SVB collapse Altman spent a weekend wiring personal cash to startups with no written terms; he pressured VCs to stop attacking Parker Conrad; he created a free Stanford entrepreneurship course watched by millions; and he scaled Y Combinator into an organization deploying “hundreds of millions of dollars.”
  • Petersmith claims deep loyalty and broad impact: over 90% of employees were reportedly prepared to walk out if Altman didn’t return after his firing, and he credits Altman with ‘brute forcing an industrial revolution’—bringing ChatGPT, GDP and manufacturing boosts, and promising progress toward curing cancer and addressing climate change.
Source evidence

title: @chasebrignac: It’s actually a deep question. Is Sam bad? His actions don’t strike me as bad. And I don’t think he ...
author: @chasebrignac
contenttype: tweet
publication: Twitter/X
published: 2026-04-08T17:58:56+00:00
sourceurl: https://x.com/chasebrignac/status/2041938859714572677

word_count: 451

It’s actually a deep question. Is Sam bad? His actions don’t strike me as bad. And I don’t think he personally killed someone. And his products are objectively good. And when he lied it’s usually lying to get shit done not to harm others. I think people hate doers out of jealousy

austin petersmith (@awwstn)

i've never met him, but sam altman has had many positive impacts on me over the years. so, i would like to weigh in with some counterpoints that were ignored in ronan farrow's lengthy op-ed about how he is the devil:

  • when SVB was collapsing, sam spent the weekend wiring personal cash to startups that feared they would miss payroll. no ratchet terms, no written terms at all, just money out the window and trust that it would work out

  • when VCs tried to destroy parker conrad, sam stepped in and leveraged his influence to get them to leave him alone

  • sam created a free course at stanford on entrepreneurship that has been watched by millions and helped inspire many thousands of entrepreneurs

  • sam took YC from a small (albeit dominant) accelerator to a scaled machine that deploys hundreds of millions of dollars supporting an entire generation of founders, most of whom show up as outsiders

  • when sam was fired, he had such deep loyalty among employees that 90%+ were going to walk out the door if he didn’t return. that is not the norm for an ousted leader, by a long shot

  • ronan farrow would have you believe sam is a master manipulator who takes advantage of everyone around him. who exactly is he manipulating and taking advantage of? his employees who are on the ride of a lifetime building products loved by millions? his investors who universally boast openai first and foremost in their portfolios? his customers who happily pay billions of dollars for said products?

  • sam literally helped brute force an industrial revolution into existence. without his perseverance you do not get chatgpt. what did that give us? an explosion of innovation, GDP growth, a domestic manufacturing and construction boom. a global reduction in friction to create things, build products, and get work done. the most promising path so far to curing cancer and solving climate change and countless other humanity-scale problems. ironically, without sam you do not get the essay Machines of Loving Grace, let alone the abundance that essay promises

so instead of dwelling on the fact that in 2011 some employees at sam’s company weren’t happy that he misrepresented his ping pong skills, i think i’ll bask in awe at the future we are living in, which sam helped pull forward

— https://nitter.net/awwstn/status/2041670708217205232#m