EMPIRE OF AI Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI

Karen Hao narrates her blockbuster audiobook about OpenAI with the immediacy of a boots-on-the-ground journalist reporting on an ongoing global crisis. Hao spent seven years researching the company and its charismatic founder, Sam Altman, and she's concerned about the lack of moral oversight, the expense, the exploitative labor practices, and Altman's tendency to tell his audiences what they want to hear. Hao is especially strong when detailing the drama of Altman's 2023 firing and rehiring five days later, a "Succession"-style power struggle among a handful of Silicon Valley elites. Considering that publishers now have access to money-saving AI-generative narration tools, it's commendable that Hao delivers all 18 enlightening hours of this audio herself. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2025]