Sam Altman trolled after sharing AI-generated firefighter image with abs: 'Still time to delete this'

Much of the engagement took the form of trolling rather than discussions around product update.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman triggered a wave of online reactions after posting an artificial intelligence–generated image of himself depicted as a shirtless firefighter, styled with Christmas lights and posed in a calendar-like format. The image was not a photograph but was created using ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities and shared as part of a public thread outlining recent product updates.

Altman posted the image while demonstrating how users could now generate customised visuals directly within ChatGPT. The image appeared to be intended as a light-hearted illustration of the tool’s expanded creative features. Styled similarly to a ncalendar photograph, it featured the CEO with abs against a backdrop of flashy lighting and a Christmas-coded background.

The post attracted immediate attention and went viral in no time. However, much of the engagement took the form of trolling rather than discussions around product update.

For example: pic.twitter.com/qcEEjfG8g0

— Sam Altman (@sama) December 16, 2025

Several responses focused on perceived errors in the image itself. One user wrote: “Really impressive model, huge congrats to everyone who worked on it at OpenAI! However, the calendar is wrong, I fixed it for you in Nano Banana Pro.”

Other reactions questioned the judgment behind sharing the image. “It’s not too late to delete this Sam,” one reply said.

Another comment referenced environmental concerns linked to large-scale AI systems, stating: “You nuked a rainforest for this and the calendar isn’t even close to accurate.”

Some users went further by recreating or modifying the firefighter image using Google’s Nano Banana Pro image-generation tool, presenting their versions as “corrections” and continuing the thread of satire.

Additional remarks included jokes that framed the image as emblematic of changing priorities in the technology sector. One user commented: “And people thought Elon was toxic.” Another wrote: “Men once went to war – now they make AI versions of themselves with abs.”