A "Bully" Who "Enjoys Getting Into Fights": Sam Altman On Elon Musk

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has spoken out about his complex relationship with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, describing him as a “bully”. Altman also shared his opinion on the Tesla CEO’s tendency to engage in public feuds with other biggies like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. “Right now, it’s me. It’s been Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, lots of other people”, Altman told the Free Press.

At the same time, Altman also acknowledged Musk’s contributions to OpenAI’s early success and praised him as a “legendary entrepreneur”. Both Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but the latter departed the board in 2018 and has since become a vocal critic of the company, even launching a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft.

According to Altman, Musk’s issues with OpenAI stem from his desire for control. He thinks that the twitter owner would be pleased with the company’s direction if he were in charge. “Everything we’re doing, I believe Elon would be happy about if he were in control of OpenAI”, he said.

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Altman also shared a positive outlook on Elon Musk’s potential influence under the second Trump administration. He believes that the SpaceX owner will not misuse his power to harm competitors. He believes that Musk’s behaviour on Twitter doesn’t necessarily translate to how he would wield power in the political arena. “I think there are people who will really be a jerk on Twitter who will still not abuse the system of the country,” he said.

“I may turn out to be wrong, but I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing. “It would be profoundly un-American to use political power to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses,” Altman previously said in an interview at the New York Times DealBook Summit.

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Elon Musk is currently suing OpenAI and Microsoft, claiming they shifted from the project’s original nonprofit mission. He has since launched xAI, reportedly valued at $50 billion, making it one of the world’s most valuable startups, according to the Wall Street Journal.