“Two years ago, many treated Altman like an oracle; in the eyes of many, Altman now looks more like a snake oil salesman.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
Two years ago many people treated Altman like an oracle, and now, in the eyes of many, he looks more like a snake oil salesman.
Assessment: Can’t be checked Evidence as of
Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it
Marcus on AI, OpenAI’s Waterloo? [with corrections], paragraph 28.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment marcus-openais-waterloo-0ea2ca-a2
We recorded 8 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-28. The source may have been edited after 2025-08-14. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
Conditions
- in the eyes of many (qualifier, stated by the speaker)
- many (scope, stated by the speaker)
From the speaker
- Two years ago, many treated Altman like an oracle
- in the eyes of many
- now looks more like a snake oil salesman
Our interpretation
- The claim describes a shift in public perception of Sam Altman between about August 2023 and August 2025.
- 'Many' and 'in the eyes of many' set no population, measure or threshold. 'Oracle' and 'snake oil salesman' are rhetorical characterisations, not observable states.
- No ordinary plain reading yields a test. Almost any perception claim about 'many' people is satisfied by some critics and denied by others.
This claim is not graded on evidence. The record checks that the words are quoted correctly and attributed to the right person, and that the claim is classified correctly.
Current assessment
Not graded on evidence
Outcome: Can’t be checked
The statement is a recommendation, a value judgment, or too open to test. It is recorded, not scored.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
The claim compares how 'many' people saw Altman about two years before August 2025 with how they saw him then. It names no population, measure or threshold. 'Oracle' and 'snake oil salesman' are metaphors, not states anyone can observe. The only evidence item is a CNBC report from 2025-08-11. In it, an academic said 'It's the Wild West for snake oil salesmen' about AI firms in general, not about Altman (e1). That shows the phrase was in use, but it cannot show what 'many' people thought of Altman at either time. With no defined standard, the claim cannot be judged true or false.
Limitations
- No poll or systematic measure of views of Altman in 2023 or in August 2025 was found.
- The one evidence item is about AI firms in general, not Altman specifically.
- Even with polling, the metaphors 'oracle' and 'snake oil salesman' have no agreed measurable meaning.
Evidence (1 item)
No outcome evidence: a claim of this kind is recorded and attributed, not scored.
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Marcus on AI, OpenAI’s Waterloo? [with corrections]
Two years ago, many treated Altman like an oracle; in the eyes of many, Altman now looks more like a snake oil salesman.
- Where
- paragraph 28
- Published
- 2025-08-14
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment marcus-openais-waterloo-0ea2ca-a2: Current. Outcome: Can’t be checked. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.