Sam Altman Says Muslims in the Tech Sector Are “Uncomfortable Speaking” Up

Washington: In an apparent allusion to the effects of the continuing conflict in Gaza, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Thursday that he thought many in the Muslim and Arab groups in the IT sector were uncomfortable talking about their recent experiences.

On the social networking platform X, now known as Twitter, Altman said, “Muslim and arab (especially Palestinian) colleagues in the tech community I’ve spoken with feel uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, often out of fear of retaliation and damaged career prospects.”

The well-known CEO of ChatGPT, a company supported by Microsoft, asked the IT sector to show empathy for people in such regions.

In response, a user on X questioned Altman about his thoughts on the experiences of the Jewish community.

In response, Altman said, “I’m Jewish. I see a lot of individuals in our field standing up for me, which I really appreciate, and I think antisemitism is a serious and expanding issue in the globe. I see a lot less of it among Muslims.

Human rights activists point out that since October 7, when the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas assaulted Israel and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli estimates, antisemitism and Islamophobia have increased significantly both domestically and internationally.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, around 22,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s following assault on the territory, accounting for about 1% of its 2.3 million inhabitants.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said last month that, compared to the same time the previous year, there had been a 172% increase in occurrences in the United States driven by Islamophobia and hostility toward Palestinians and Arabs in the two months after the start of the conflict.

US antisemitic events increased by 337% between October 7 and December 7, according to a December report from the Anti-Defamation League.