Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has strong feelings about his former collaborator Elon Musk. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Altman said Musk could use his growing political power in troubling ways, but he doesn’t believe Musk would go after competitors like OpenAI directly.
“Oh, I think he’ll do all sorts of bad s***,” Altman said. “I think he’ll continue to sue us and drop lawsuits and make new lawsuits and whatever else.”
Despite this criticism, Altman added, “Will he abuse his political power of being co-president, or whatever he calls himself now, to mess with a business competitor? I don’t think he’ll do that. I genuinely don’t.”
Altman’s comments highlight concerns about Musk’s influence, especially with his close ties to President Donald Trump. Musk has been appointed co-chair of Trump’s advisory board on government efficiency, a role that gives him significant political sway.
Musk and Altman were once partners in building OpenAI, a company they hoped would guide artificial intelligence development responsibly. But their partnership fell apart in 2018 after disagreements over leadership and the company’s direction. Musk left OpenAI and later founded his own AI company, xAI, to compete with OpenAI.
Their feud has only escalated over the years. Musk has filed multiple lawsuits against OpenAI, accusing it of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and working with Microsoft to create a monopoly. OpenAI has denied these allegations, pointing to communications where Musk appeared to support the company’s shift to a for-profit model.
Altman also suggested Musk’s erratic behavior is a pattern: “He says a lot of things, starts them, undoes them, gets sued, sues, gets in fights with the government, gets investigated by the government. That’s just Elon being Elon.”
However, Altman acknowledged that both he and Musk share a common belief in the importance of handling artificial intelligence carefully. But with Musk’s rising political power and Trump’s support, critics worry that Musk’s wealth and influence could put him beyond accountability.
