# Google falsely shows Sam Altman dead after Wikipedia vandalism

2026-08-13T06:39:24+00:00 | World & Diplomacy | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets

On August 12, Google Search briefly displayed a false result claiming OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had died. The error was traced to a vandalised Wikipedia entry where someone added false information about his death. Google confirmed the issue and said it was not a manual change, but an automatic pick-up from the vandalised source. The company removed the result within hours. According to SBS News, Wikipedia's revision history showed offensive edits, including claims of assassination and a change to Altman's surname. Following the incident, Wikipedia restricted editing to registered users. A similar false result also appeared for Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, as reported by Times of India.

## Coverage

- timesofindia.indiatimes.com <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/as-google-search-result-shows-sam-altman-dead-company-clarifies-not-their-fault-says-this-was-not-a-manual-change-by-google-it-is-when-/articleshow/133198671.cms>
- timesnownews.com <https://www.timesnownews.com/technology-science/google-makes-blunder-this-time-search-results-showed-openai-ceo-sam-altman-dead-article-155604420>
- ndtv.com <https://www.ndtv.com/feature/google-search-error-shows-sam-altman-as-dead-false-claim-traced-to-wikipedia-11905988>

Tags: death hoax, Google Search, misinformation, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Wikipedia vandalism
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Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.