AI Leader Sam Altman Calls Out Increasing Antisemitism ‘Particularly on the American Left’

Antisemitism - NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 25: Posters distributed around the New York Un
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Joshua Klein

Artificial intelligence leader and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted to being “totally wrong” about rising antisemitism “particularly on the [A]merican left,” as many who have long supported left-wing causes and personalities face a mounting crisis as they witness a surge of anti-Jewish hostilities emanating from the left.

In a viral X post from Thursday evening, Times Magazine’s “CEO of the Year” Sam Altman became the latest prominent figure to take note of the phenomenon and rethink their views.

“[F]or a long time i said that antisemitism, particularly on the american left, was not as bad as people claimed. i’d like to just state that i was totally wrong,” the tech entrepreneur wrote.

“[I] still don’t understand it, really. or know what to do about it,” he added, “but it is so fucked.”

“Admitting to being wrong takes courage and moral clarity so thank you, when I used to warn people about the antisemitism of the far-left that I was called a Republican immediately,” responded Sarah Idan, a former Miss Iraq who was forced to flee her native country after posting a selfie of herself and Miss Israel.

“Glad to see Dems are waking up finally to our warning,” she added.

The message comes as many experience a rude awakening to the overtly antisemitic rhetoric of left-wing personalities, groups and institutions, especially since the brutal October 7 massacre  — the deadliest against Jewish people since the Nazi Holocaust — which saw the torture, rape, execution, immolation, and abduction of hundreds of Israelis of all ages, mostly civilians, and dozens of Americans.

Following the attack, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Grassroots organization showed support for the Palestinian terror group Hamas, the perpetrators of the October 7 massacre and attack against the Jewish people. 

WATCH — Graphic Content Warning: Home Where Hamas Murdered an Israeli Family in Kibbutz Be’eri

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart News

BLM’s Chicago chapter even posted a photo reading, “I stand with Palestine,” which featured a paraglider with the Palestinian flag, which is notable because Hamas gunmen paraglided into a music festival in Israel and attacked the attendees.

Subsequently, staff at the Cooper Union college in New York City locked a group of Jewish students in the campus library for their own safety on October 25 when a mob of chanting far-left pro-Palestinian students tried to gain access and pounded on the windows and the doors.

“I don’t think anyone actually realized just how bad our nation’s problem with antisemitism on the left is,” wrote columnist David Marcus. “Now we have to fix it.”

“Before October 7th I truly believed that antisemitism on the left was not a serious problem—that it was a fringe viewpoint that was overblown for political purposes. I so badly wanted to believe that those purportedly fighting for justice couldn’t be antisemites,” wrote foreign policy analyst Joe Roberts, who serves as chair of the far-left Meretz Canada.

“I was wrong,” he admitted.

“I remember when I was accused of ‘politicizing’ antisemitism when I pointed out the left has a serious, serious problem with antisemitism,” wrote Erielle Davidson, a senior policy analyst with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). “I deeply wish I had been wrong.”

“This is everything I thought it would be—disgusting, dangerous, dumb, and totally avoidable,” she added.

“Confession: I’ve incorrectly assumed the far left doesn’t have an antisemitism problem. I believed our ranks were filled with people like me that opposed Netanyahu’s far right policies, not Israel itself,” wrote Brianna Wu, a transgender far-left game developer.

“That is clearly not true,” she added. “I’m embarrassed I didn’t see this sooner.”

“Antisemitism on the left has been downplayed for so long, and those antisemites have repeatedly demonstrated since 10/7 — through their open support for Hamas — that that was a mistake,” Melissa Braunstein said.

Following the October 7 massacre, CNN anchor Jake Tapper admitted on his show “The Lead” that the ensuing days had been a real eye-opening period “in terms of antisemitism on the left.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) also admitted feeling a category five hurricane of left-wing antisemitism in New York.

The remarks were made as many progressives appeared surprised by the rise of antisemitism within academic institutions, the young “woke” left wing, and immigrant groups, after years of attributing such sentiments mostly to “right-wing” nationalists, despite their robust support for Israel.

According to former Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) CEO David L. Bernstein, who authored the book “Woke Antisemitism: How a Progressive Ideology Harms Jews,” progressive “woke” ideology — which views society through a binary of oppressors and oppressed and which increasingly categorizes Jews and Israel as oppressors — fuels antisemitism. 

The presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn refused to say whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” is bullying and harassment according to their codes of conduct during a congressional hearing on antisemitism at American universities on Tuesday, December 5.

WATCH: Elise Stefanik Rips into Harvard President Claudine Gay Over Antisemitism

House Committee on Education & the Workforce

“Left-wing leaders of @Harvard @MIT and @Penn quite clearly state their students should be able to promote the mass murder of Jews without consequence. @RepStefanik is quite properly horrified at their responses,” wrote Tom Fitton on X.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that left-wing allies of the Democrat Party are allying with antisemites to drown out public sympathy for embattled Israel.

Last month, Washington Post columnist Marc A. Thiessen urged President Biden and the Democratic Party to confront and address the issue of antisemitism within the left-wing political sphere. 

Meanwhile, many remain quiet on the issue while others continue to incite further hate.

Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) blasted his Democratic colleagues, whom he accused of being willing to call out former President Donald Trump for things they find offensive while remaining silent on antisemitism on the left.

Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.