Now we know who paid $100,000 to unlock a Sam Altman podcast interview
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Both Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI's CEO and president, sat down together for a rare interview. Someone paid $100,000 to release the podcast to the public. Taylor Hill/FilmMagic 2026-04-25T08:32:01.283Z Share Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.
Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. A CEO spent $100,000 to make an interview with OpenAI executives free to the public. Sam Altman and Greg Brockman appeared on Ashlee Vance's podcast. The interview was behind a paywall, and Vance said he would unlock it for a fee. AI-generated summary Summaries are generated by an AI model trained on Business Insider's articles. AI may make mistakes or provide inaccurate/incomplete information. We're unable to load that answer right now. Please try again. Why did Jim Belosic pay $100,000? How does Ashlee Vance choose sponsors? How does fear-based marketing work? What is "doomerism" in AI? What is the "Core Memory" podcast about? He put his money where their mouths were. Loading audio narration... A manufacturing entrepreneur paid $100,000 to unlock a paywalled interview with OpenAI's top executives.The interview, featuring CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, was initially published behind a paywall by journalist Ashlee Vance as part of his "Core Memory" podcast. After some listeners complained on X that it wasn't free, Vance said he would consider making it public if someone forked over about $100,000. Jim Belosic, the CEO of Nevada-based laser manufacturing company SendCutSend, reached out."He saw the tweet that I put up and reached out," Vance told Business Insider. The "real, American cash" payment came together quickly, he said, describing the interaction as "the magic of Twitter or X." Well, you guys all wanted to know who paid the $100k to unlock this pod. Am very pleased to reveal it was @jimbelosic and @sendcutsend, who, in addition to unlocking this for everyone, have come on as new podcast sponsors as well. We plan to do some special things for you all.… https://t.co/FCaqBvvR5G— Ashlee Vance (@ashleevance) April 24, 2026 Vance said the funding was not pre-arranged and that he would have been cautious about accepting money from companies closely tied to OpenAI or its competitors.The money will help "run the business" behind the "Core Memory" podcast and YouTube channel. SendCutSend is now a sponsor, Vance said, and Belosic is scheduled as an upcoming guest. In the interview, Altman criticized what he called "doomerism" around AI and accused rival Anthropic of using "fear-based marketing" to promote its new model, Claude Mythos. The conversation also touched on OpenAI's ongoing legal battle with Elon Musk.OpenAI and Belosic did not respond to requests for comment. Vance said one of his biggest takeaways from the interview was the dynamic between Altman and Brockman, whom he described as having gone through "extraordinary ups and downs" together. He also pointed to Brockman's role at the company, saying he appears to be increasingly involved in shaping OpenAI's strategy."They are two people who've been through these extraordinary ups and downs," he told Business Insider. "I think people are kind of underestimating how much Greg has really come back to set OpenAI's strategy."