Sam Altman Published New OpenAI Principles Hours Before a $134B Trial—Here’s What’s Missing

Sam Altman posted five new guiding principles for OpenAI on Sunday, April 26, roughly 12 hours before jury selection began in Elon Musk's $134 billion lawsuit against him.

The new post focuses on democratization and universal prosperity. But the 2018 charter OpenAI was built on is still live on the company's website. Three of its core safety commitments did not make the jump to Altman's new version, pushing conflicting versions of the company's legal obligations.

Here are the three commitments left behind.

1. The promise to step aside for a safer competitor 

OpenAI's 2018 charter contained an enforceable pledge: if another safety-focused AI lab got meaningfully closer to building AGI first, OpenAI would stop competing and collaborate.

The 2026 principles drop this promise entirely. The removal happens just as rival Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI safety researchers, reportedly hits a $1 trillion secondary market valuation and a $30 billion revenue run-rate. Under the old rules, OpenAI would have to support its most legitimate competitor. Under the new rules, it fights them.