OpenAI denies CEO Altman refused to meet Netanyahu, says PM never requested a meeting

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT and creator of OpenAI, speaks at University College London, as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, May 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT and creator of OpenAI, speaks at University College London, as part of his world tour of speaking engagements in London, May 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

OpenAI denies Hebrew-language media reports earlier today that the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, refused to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during Altman’s visit to Israel this week.

“We did not receive a meeting request from Prime Minister Netanyahu,” an OpenAI spokesperson says.

The company is behind the popular ChatGPT bot.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Ynet news site and Channel 12 news said earlier that Netanyahu’s office tried to coordinate a meeting with Altman, but he rebuffed them in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul plans.

“There was never a meeting request from the PM,” a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office said in response.

Altman, who is Jewish, is slated to meet with President Isaac Herzog, tour the local offices of Microsoft and participate in an event at Tel Aviv University while in Israel.

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