Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI, talks during Ai discussion during APEC CEO Summit in San Francisco on Thursday, November 16, 2023.
Scott Strazzante/The ChronicleSam Altman, who made headlines last month after he was suddenly ousted and then quickly reinstated as CEO of OpenAI, is facing a very San Francisco problem: a coyote in the backyard of his $27 million home.
What’s more, the coyote at Altman’s home was the same critter shown in a photo posted on social media by San Francisco’s Animal Care & Control officials last month as it lounged on a resident’s patio furniture, officials confirmed Thursday.
In an interview with Time magazine, which named him CEO of the Year, Altman said that the coyote “moved into my house and scratches on the door outside.”
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He added that “it’s very cute, but it’s very annoying at night.”
Altman’s fiancé, Oliver Mulherin, shared photos with the magazine showing the coyote sunbathing on an outdoor couch and peeking through the window of the couple’s home in Russian Hill, which they bought in 2020, according to Business Insider.
The photos are strikingly similar to ones shared last month by San Francisco’s Animal Care & Control in a post on X, formerly Twitter, about an officer responding to a concerned citizen’s call about a coyote in their backyard.
A wild coyote was recently found wandering around a San Francisco residence, including resting on a home’s outdoor patio couch, according to San Francisco Animal Care and Control.
San Francisco Animal Care & ControlAt the time, Animal Care & Control did not share the identity of the person or the location of their home. On Thursday, the agency confirmed to the Chronicle that the coyote in Mulherin’s photos was the same one involved in the November incident, though officials could not verify whose furniture the animal was on in the November photos.
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The animal control officer who responded to the backyard coyote call said then that it appeared to be a healthy, young male coyote just “trying to make his way through the city.”
San Francisco has an estimated 100 coyotes, according to animal control officials, a population that has remained consistent for 10 to 15 years. While the animals are usually shy, they can “exhibit assertive behaviors” if they feel threatened or are protecting their pups, officials said.
Reach Danielle Echeverria: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @DanielleEchev
