Sam Altman Is Getting Blasted Online Again…Over Olive Oil?

Sam Altman just wanted to make a home-cooked meal and chat, but a mixup involving a trendy DTC darling now has online users roasting his cooking skills instead.

Gear Patrol

By Ben Bowers

Published May 13, 2025

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These days, at least one corner of the internet, if not the entire internet, seems focused on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at any given moment.

After kicking off 2025 in the headlines with some alarming allegations and a high-profile legal grudge match with none other than Elon Musk, things quickly moved on to his war of words with world-famous animator and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. More recently, the topic du jour with Altman has been his eye-scanning crypto orb company.

Over the weekend, though, the internet shifted gears again to focus on Sam Altman’s knowledge (or lack thereof) of cooking with a notable specialty olive oil.

A Bold Interview Choice

A screen shot of an Instagram video posted showing Sam Altman holding a bottle of olive oil while standing in front of a kitchen range stove. — The screenshot of Altman’s recent video interview with the *Financial Times* shows Altman grabbing the wrong bottle of Graza olive oil to cook with.

Recently, Altman appeared on the longstanding series “Lunch with the FT,” which, as the Financial Times describes it, usually involves a casual interview with “the world’s most fascinating people” at their restaurant of choice.

“Like many successful direct-to-consumer brands, Graza’s appeal comes from a blend of focus, quality, packaging panache, and a nod toward sustainability.”

Altman’s episode was slightly different. He decided to cook at his own house rather than eat out and invited a video crew from the Financial Times into his kitchen to film.

That’s how FT Editor Bryce Elder spotted Altman’s misusing a viral specialty olive oil.

A Trending DTC Olive Oil Brand

A line up of Graza's three Olive oil products shown resting on a shiny countertop in front of a marbled-looking stone background. — Graza now sells three varieties of olive oil dubbed “Sizzle”, “Drizzle,” and “Frizzle” in a cheeky nod to each oil’s intended purpose.

In the video, Altman’s kitchen appears stocked with two different olive oils from Graza, a relatively new darling in the DTC food space launched in 2022.

Over the years, the brand has steadily gained attention from major publications like Bon Appétit and Fast Company, alongside plenty of organic social media buzz.

Like many successful direct-to-consumer brands, Graza’s appeal comes from a blend of focus, quality, packaging panache, and a nod toward sustainability.

A lifestyle photo of Graza's sizzle olive oil — Graza’s Sizzle oil is supposed to be used for cooking just about anything.

The brand initially sold just two extra-virgin olive oils and recently added a third version earlier this year. Unlike many on the market, Graza touts the transparency of its supply chain as a key point of distinction.

Its oils are sourced exclusively from Picaul olives produced by a single farm in Jaen, Spain—a region where over half the world’s olive oil is produced. According to the brand’s About Us page, Picual olives are generally considered a superior choice for olive oil due to their high smoke point, long shelf life, and high antioxidant count.

The brand has also zigged, whereas many other olive oil brands have zagged with their packaging. Instead of heavy, clunky glass bottles, Graza Olive Oil is sold primarily in more user-friendly plastic squeeze bottles, which chefs prefer. The brand also sells oil refills in 100% recyclable cans to reduce wasted plastic packaging over time.

An illustration of two bottles of olive oil on the scales of justice

“Is he using drizzle for sizzle?” reads one comment on Graza’s Instagram post highlighting clips from Altman’s recent FT interview.

It might sound like one of Snoop Dogg’s trademarks, but the rhetorical question bluntly drives to the heart of Altman’s cooking folly in the video, granted you speak Graza.

“Is he using drizzle for sizzle?” reads one comment on Graza’s Instagram post highlighting clips from Altman’s FT recent interview.”

That’s because Graza’s olive oil lineup today consists of three different options dubbed “Drizzle,” “Sizzle” and the newly introduced “Frizzle,” in a cheeky nod to each oil’s ideal use case.

According to Graza, Drizzle is made from olives harvested early in the season, in October. The result is “a spicier, more flavor-packed oil,” which the brand states makes it great as a “finishing oil.”

A bottle of Graza drizzle olive oil being poured on a piece of cake with strawberries — Graza’s Drizzle oil is “Made for eating, never heating!” But Altman either forgot or doesn’t care.

If that isn’t clear enough, the company goes further, explicitly stating, “You wouldn’t want to cook with Drizzle,” and even offers a convenient rhyme mnemonic to ram home the point: “Made for eating, never heating!” It’s no “snitches get stitches,” but it’s still quite helpful.

“Sizzle”, in contrast, is made from olives picked in November, peak harvest season, and therefore offers a mellower flavor. Graza says its extra maturity makes it ideal for everyday cooking tasks like “roasting, searing, poaching, pan frying, baking, and marinating.”

“But apparently, Altman might be too busy running a company now worth $300 billion to read olive oil user instructions. “

But Altman might just be too busy running a company now worth $300 billion to read olive oil user instructions. Or more charitably, maybe he just forgot or wasn’t paying close attention. It’s not as if he had a panel of food scientists in front of him talking him through what he was grabbing.

If only there was a magical tool he could’ve leaned on to summarize what he needed to know about cooking with Graza olive oil, or thinking really outside of the box here, identify what he picked up and flag his mistake.

Then again, if a tool like that were to exist, like any other tool, there’s always a risk it could fail occasionally and provide a bogus findings like, “use Drizzle to sizzle.”

And if said tool had the occasional tendency to offer up bad advice, well, then Altman might never feel comfortable trusting its answers without doing additional research. Which would kind of defeat the value of the magical tool to begin with, right?

Whatever the real explanation for Altman’s condiment kerfuffle, the internet is more than happy to remind him that he chose poorly all on his own.

For its part, Graza also had some good-natured laughs at Altman’s expense, adding a slide in their Instagram post asking ChatGPT, “Which Graza oil do I use to cook pasta?” To ChatGPT’s credit, it responded correctly with Sizzle.

Now consider yourself informed and fact-checked on the topic, lest you think about making the same mistake one day.

Graza “Drizzle” Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Graza “Sizzle” Extra Virgin Olive Oil

About the Author: Ben Bowers is the Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer of Gear Patrol. Throughout his tenure in media, Ben has written and reported on everything from consumer tech to whiskey, watches, cars, camping, and personal style. These days, he gets to write less than he’d like to.