The New Yorker Publishes AI-Generated Illustration for Sam Altman Profile

The New Yorker has published an illustration created using generative artificial intelligence for a profile of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, drawing attention to the magazine's evolving stance on AI-generated visual content. The image, credited to mixed-media artist David Szauder with disclosure that it was "Generated using A.I.," depicts Altman surrounded by disembodied floating faces meant to convey his shifting public personas. According to Szauder, the creative process involved approximately 15 sketches sent to The New Yorker's art directors, with AI functioning as one tool among traditional editing methods. Szauder, who teaches art and technology at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, has worked with generative processes for over a decade, including programming his own AI tools using ethically sourced archival materials. The publication joins a small number of prestigious outlets experimenting with AI imagery. The Verge, which first reported the story, maintains a strict policy requiring yellow labels on AI-generated images and clear disclosure of any AI assistance in image creation. The use of AI in editorial illustration remains contentious within the industry. The U.S. Copyright Office has determined that images created through text prompts alone cannot be copyrighted, stating that such outputs reflect "the user's acceptance of the AI system's interpretation, rather than authorship of the expression it contains." Art budgets at editorial publications have faced sustained pressure, with freelance illustration work particularly affected by declining rates and atomized contract structures that resist traditional collective bargaining.