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Sam Altman's Coworkers Say He Can Barely Code and Misunderstands Basic Concepts

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-technical-coding
23•cebert•2h ago

Comments

xvxvx•1h ago
"I think there's a small but real chance he's eventually remembered as a Bernie Madoff- or Sam Bankman-Fried-level scammer."

It's not a small chance, it's close to 100%. If your bullshit detector is not going off, you have a serious problem.

avree•1h ago
I think it's a very small chance. Look at how many absolutely technically useless CEOs, such as Elon Musk, are still perceived by many in the industry and outside of it. The WeWork guy got funding for a new startup immediately post collapse. It takes a lot to reach SBF/Madoff levels.
Grimblewald•50m ago
Sbf built a pyramid scheme that collapsed. Sam altman has built a pyramid scheme that will soon collapse. The collapse is the point. This way insurance companies, advertisers, etc can buy the company and its assets, the customer data, that gives them a level of access to people laws and anti-trusts would otherwise prevent.

the entire thing is built to collapse.

BoredPositron•1h ago
I bet he is a menace but so are probably 90% of c-suite tech execs. Like with Elon and Zuck it's the insecurities which make it at least funny to watch from the sidelines.
d2dfsd•1h ago
Im going to get into trouble for saying this but many of these CEOs seem to be a mix of vertically challenged, challenged in terms of looks/social aura/charasima and so on. Perhaps these are necessary characteristics to have drive.. the problem is they end up taking out that energy on the rest of society. E.g. Zuck with "dumb fucks" and we've already seen Musk unmasked.

You never saw this kind of stuff with Steve Jobs who admittedly wasnt perfect - but he wasn't challenged physically / social standing. Perhaps that's why he wasn't a weirdo like the rest of them.

skybrian•57m ago
Didn’t Jobs have nutty beliefs about food and healthcare?
hgoel•57m ago
I feel like this is largely just what Musk/Zuck/Jeff's generation of rich fucks is like. Kind of like how the ones before them (Gates, Jobs etc) were more hated for being dirty/ruthless businessmen, but weren't known for being so openly and pathetically insecure.

On the other hand, I'm probably just finding a generational distinction where there is none.

Edit: And anyway, SBF, Altman etc are not the same generation as Musk etc IIRC

pram•1h ago
I am amused at how pissy he can get in interviews. Who thought it was a great idea to have this guy doing PR?
glerk•27m ago
> I think there's a small but real chance he's eventually remembered as a Bernie Madoff

What's with all the hit pieces on Sam Altman lately? He's a CEO, his job is to grow the business, not to code. That part is handled by the engineers that he hired. How many CEOs out there are also great programmers? Sure, I would prefer Sam Altman to have more technical depth given the business he is leading, but lack of technical depth doesn't make him a Bernie Madoff.

mbgerring•15m ago
I’m old enough to remember that Sam Altman’s claim to fame before OpenAI, before running YC, was running a failed also-ran location-based whatever Web 2.0 scam startup thing that accomplished nothing and that no one remembers. His entire “career” is based on persuading people with money to give him more of it.

The incentive structures are such that everyone sucks up to people in a position to give you a lot of money, so all these people with no real skills, talent or track record get regarded as “geniuses”, but like, even when you understand why this happens, it doesn’t make it any less rage-inducing.

What would have to change in this society for people who actually do shit to have a higher profile than people who just have a lot of money?

ergocoder•8m ago
People like to gatekeep coding as if it was some sort of mythical skills that only extremely smart people could do.

Tons of people can code. Coding is not some sort of mythical skill. Millions of people can code.

For some reason, this narrative is almost always applying on people who are politically incompatible with the left like Elon and Sam.

Greece moves to protect minors from social media with new ban for kids under 15

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-04-09/greece-moves-to-protect-minors-from-social-...
1•1vuio0pswjnm7•1m ago•0 comments

ActionParty: Multi-Subject Action Binding in Generative Video Games

https://action-party.github.io/
1•gmays•2m ago•0 comments

Google's AI Overviews spew false answers per hour, bombshell study reveals

https://nypost.com/2026/04/09/business/googles-ai-overviews-spew-out-millions-of-false-answers-pe...
1•1vuio0pswjnm7•3m ago•0 comments

Kimberly-Clark warehouse fire suspect starts blaze: "Should have paid us more"

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/ontario-kimberly-clark-fire-alleged-suspect-video-start-w...
1•cebert•5m ago•0 comments

Detox may erase 10 years of social media brain damage, researchers say

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/09/social-media-detox/
2•1vuio0pswjnm7•5m ago•0 comments

xAI sues Colorado over first state AI anti-discrimination law

https://www.ft.com/content/55e8cba9-d09c-4f94-b710-4ab447b987f9
1•rmason•5m ago•1 comments

NewTek Video Toaster Demo Reel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhQZmtHF98M
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Ask HN: Who is solving hard problems and deep work?

1•conqrr•9m ago•0 comments

I Still Prefer MCP over Skills

https://david.coffee/i-still-prefer-mcp-over-skills/
3•gmays•10m ago•0 comments

Seamaster APNEA – mechanical watch with freediving complication

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1•smugglerFlynn•11m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Facebook Marketplace MCP

https://github.com/jdcodes1/facebook-marketplace-mcp
1•rpst•11m ago•0 comments

Civil war among wild chimpanzees

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeg6719
1•neom•16m ago•0 comments

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https://zenodo.org/records/19490400
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Why the Moon Is Spiraling Away from Us [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akgGfeQ84WM
1•kamaraju•17m ago•0 comments

We've raised $17M to build what comes after Git

https://blog.gitbutler.com/series-a
1•ellieh•18m ago•0 comments

White House Warns Staff Not to Place Bets on Prediction Markets Amid Iran War

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2•bookofjoe•20m ago•1 comments

A brief history of C/C++ programming languages

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1•signa11•23m ago•0 comments

Office Bathroom terminology and survival guide (199x)

http://losrulz-plethora.blogspot.com/2006/10/office-restroom-terminology.html
1•b3ing•25m ago•2 comments

CPU-Z and HWMonitor official site compromised

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2•eightysixfour•25m ago•2 comments

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https://www.wired.com/story/black-forest-labs-ai-image-generation/
1•aanet•31m ago•0 comments

Anthropic weighs building it own AI chips, sources say

https://www.reuters.com/business/anthropic-weighs-building-it-own-ai-chips-sources-say-2026-04-09/
2•aanet•32m ago•0 comments

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https://news.ycombinator.com/submit
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AltoForge – visualize AWS incidents in real time

https://altoforge.io/
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American Model Airplane Engines(2005) [pdf]

https://www.gruppofalchi.com/files/1911-2005-Anderson-s-Blue-Book-.pdf
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Commercial Persuasion in AI-Mediated Conversations

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04263
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Agentic Code Optimization via Compiler-LLM Cooperation

https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04238
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Tend: Lightweight attention infrastructure for humans and AI agents

https://www.tend.cx/
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Microsoft PhotoDNA scanning problem

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/microsoft-photodna-scanning-problem-it-is-comical-now.45961/
52•darkzek•1h ago•21 comments

Ask HN: Looking for AI Video Upscaler

1•120bits•1h ago•0 comments