OpenAI CEO Sam Altman marries his longtime boyfriend Oliver Mulherin

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 12, 2024 11:27 IST

In an intimate seaside ceremony, surrounded by just a few loved ones and palm trees, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman married his long-time boyfriend, Oliver Mulherin. Social media are abuzz with the images of the couple at the wedding ceremony. Of course, and quite ironically, people on social media have been speculating if this is an AI-generated image. However, Altman has confirmed to NBC News that he is, in fact, married.

Oliver Mulherin also confirmed the news via an Instagram post. The caption of the post reads, “married my best friend and love of my life”. The screenshot of the post was shared by Free Press Journal.

X –– formerly Twitter –– user who goes by the handle @heyBarsee, also shared images of Altman and Mulherin at the wedding ceremony. The images are likely the same that were shared by Oliver Mulherin in his Instagram post.

Many on social media are now wondering who Oliver Mulherin is, especially because Altman and Mulherin have not been very vocal about their relationship. Although, in an interview with New York Magazine in September 2023, Sam Altman had said that he and Mulherin would like to have kids soon.

Other than that, Sam Altman and Oliver Mulherin also attended the state dinner at the White House that the US President Joe Biden hosted when Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was in the country for a visit.

• We'd like two minutes of your time in order to understand you better. Please take this reader survey.

But the couple has largely kept the relationship secret. Besides that, from what his LinkedIn profile tells us, Oliver Mulherin is an Australian software engineer. He even worked with Meta from August 2020 to November 2022.

Last year, in November, in a dramatic turn of events, Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI. Altman's sudden departure left many employees agitated. In response, the employees expressed their discontent by threatening to resign and switch to Microsoft unless Altman was reinstated. Long story short, Altman eventually reclaimed the position of CEO and enacted a significant restructuring, dismissing all former board members to establish a new board.

Altman became the face of AI with the introduction of ChatGPT, sparking a competition to progress AI research and development, accompanied by substantial investments amounting to billions in the field. In 2015, Altman, alongside tech billionaires like Elon Musk, established OpenAI as a nonprofit organisation. As the CEO, Altman has guided OpenAI's transformation into one of the most prominent startups globally.