New Delhi, April 8 -- A Pakistani-origin entrepreneur has stepped forward to defend Sam Altman after an explosive report described the OpenAI chief as a "relentless liar" and even a "sociopath".

Waqas Ali, co-founder of Brooklyn-based footwear startup Atoms, shared his personal experience with Altman, offering a sharply contrasting account to the claims made in a detailed report by The New Yorker.

Ali recalled his early days in the United States in 2015, when he had just moved from a small village in Pakistan to join startup accelerator Y Combinator, then led by Altman.

At the time, he said, many founders in the programme were intimidated by Altman's reputation. But his own interaction told a different story.

According to Ali, Altman ...