Hacker News: ronanfarrow

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:19:12 +0000

I won’t get into behind-the-scenes specifics here but I think you can imagine how pressurized this topic was and the amount of heat that tends to generate. I’m used to getting a lot of blowback and it’s never fun. I just hope the work is meticulous and fair enough, and that enough people see the benefits of that, that I get to continue to do it.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:16:54 +0000

For what it’s worth, I don’t think the piece at all avoids key areas of disillusionment with the technology. Quite the contrary.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:15:37 +0000

This is a vast and tricky question. The business model has basically fallen out from under journalism, and especially this kind of labor-intensive investigative reporting. The media landscape is increasingly dominated by moneyed individuals and companies essentially buying up the discourse.

I would really suggest subscribing to and finding ways to amplify independent outlets and journalists, and encouraging others to do so.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:12:07 +0000

I’ve really appreciated how substantive and polite the discourse here is, overall!

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:11:34 +0000

This is so appreciated, thank you! These stories can honestly take a lot out of me so thoughtful reactions mean a lot.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:09:25 +0000

Interesting to hear! While this hasn’t been a commonplace reaction, I think if I do my job right it should allow people to read the facts as they will, exactly like this. It’s strenuously designed to be fair and, where appropriate, even generous.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:05:54 +0000

For what it’s worth, the story, while focused on OpenAI, is not uncritical of Anthropic. It explores whether there is a wider race to the bottom in terms of safety, and erosion of even some of Anthropic’s commitments.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:34:00 +0000

There is dwindling space for sincere independent accountability reporting on big tech like this to a) be created, since it's incredibly resource-intensive and so many resources flow from Silicon Valley, and b) actually reach people, since more platforms are now owned or otherwise influenced by interested parties.

Thank you for looking. Please do spread this kind of reporting in your communities, and subscribe to investigative outlets when you can.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:31:21 +0000

As is always the case with incredibly precise and rigorously fact-checked reporting like this, where every word is chosen carefully (the initial closing meeting for this one was nearly eight hours long, with full deliberation about each sentence), there is more out there on that subject than is explicitly on the page.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:28:41 +0000

The piece is an interrogation of this very question, at great length and with some nuance. I think what it does most usefully is scrutinize an array of different answers to the question.

My own impression after many hours of conversation is that he is identifying something of a true north star when he frames this around "winning." There are people in the story who talk about him emphasizing a desire for power (as opposed to, say, wealth). I think he probably also believes, to some extent, the story he tells that equates winning, and his gaining power, with a superabundant utopian future for all.

However, I think critics correctly highlight a tension between his statements about centering humanity writ large and his tilt into relentless accelerationism.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:19:21 +0000

Fair request, here you go: https://x.com/RonanFarrow/status/2041203911697068112

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:17:08 +0000

Thank you for this, very much appreciate the thoughtful response.

The piece captures some of the anxieties within OpenAI right now about their competitive position. This obviously ebbs and flows but of late there has been much focus on Anthropic's relative position. We of course mention the allegations of "circular deals" and concerns about partners taking on debt.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:14:44 +0000

All fair points on trauma and memory.

As noted in the piece, we spent months talking to Altman's partners and what we found and didn't is as described.

New comment by ronanfarrow in "Sam Altman may control our future – can he be trusted?"

ronanfarrow — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:58:42 +0000

Ronan Farrow here. Andrew Marantz and I spent 18 months on this investigation. Happy to answer questions about the reporting.