Elon Musk’s former co-founder, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is now at the helm of Musk’s “enemy list”— and he doesn’t keep silent about how much he resents him and his company.
In an expanded version of the previous lawsuit, Musk called OpenAI a “market-crippling gorgon,” The Wall Street Journal reported. He was also taken to calling Altman “Sly Sam,” a mocking nickname in the style of his new closest ally, President-elect Donald Trump.
Musk and Altman have had a strained relationship since Tesla The CEO left OpenAI in 2018. As OpenAI says, Musk he said at the time that the team’s “probability of success was 0, and that it planned to build an AGI competitor within Tesla.”
A year before he left, OpenAI turned down Musk’s offer to take control of the company, despite him being the largest source of its funding. Since then, Musk has founded his own AI company, xAI.
Musk in March sued Altman and ChatGPT creator OpenAI for allegedly violating the nonprofit principles on which the company was founded, in part because it struck a multi-billion dollar contract with Microsoft.
OpenAI has since switched to a “limited” for-profit company. On Friday, Musk asked a judge to block OpenAI’s efforts to become a fully for-profit company, CNBC reported.
After a friendly fireside chat with Altman at a technology conference in Montana, Musk dropped his original lawsuit against OpenAI, Magazine reported but refilled it in August.
OpenAI did not immediately respond Wealthrequest for comment.
Now, the pair’s relationship is seemingly at an all-time low just as Musk has gained a lot of influence with Trump, which could affect OpenAI’s prospects for regulation. As one of the former president’s biggest financiers during the 2024 election cycle, Musk has gained significant influence with Trump.
The CEO of Tesla was appointed co-head Department of Government Efficiencywhich will advise the government on how to drastically reduce spending. Musk has even sat on calls with foreign leaders and supported allies for regulatory positions overseeing his companies.
While Altman has tried to make friendly contact with the incoming Trump administration through contacts such as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his brother, Josh Kushner, whose VC firm Thrive Capital invested in OpenAI, his strained relationship with Musk complicates matters, the Magazine reported.
Musk is known for his public spats with fellow billionaires, including Amazon president Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Last year, he even challenged Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to cage fight.
As for Altman, Musk didn’t hold back his thoughts.
“I don’t trust OpenAI. I don’t trust Sam Altman. And I don’t think we should have the most powerful artificial intelligence in the world controlled by someone who is not trustworthy,” he told the former Fox host Tucker Carlson in October.
