Elon Musk vs Sam Altman: How the Billionaire Feud May Impact US AI Development

• The battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman highlights a larger debate surrounding the ethical direction of AI development.
• Since Musk’s departure from OpenAI, Tesla’s CEO has heavily criticized the firm’s direction.
• Musk recently launched his fourth lawsuit against OpenAI.

When it comes to AI, few names are more significant than Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

After becoming co-founders of OpenAI, their public alliance and shared vision shattered into a now very public feud.

At the center of the disagreement is a profound debate about AI’s ethical direction, which is currently being debated worldwide.

Musk and Altman’s fallout is as much about billionaire rivalry as it is about the future of humanity’s relationship with AI.

Elon Musk’s OpenAI Takeover Attempt

In the latest public fallout between the two billionaires, a consortium of investors led by Musk made an unsolicited offer to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI on Monday, Feb. 11.

The offer, which the Musk-led group reportedly submitted for $97.4 billion to OpenAI’s board of directors, was quickly and publicly pushed back by Altman.

“No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” Altman said in a post on X.

However, confusion surrounding the validity of the offer remains.

On Tuesday, OpenAI’s board of directors claimed it had not received a formal bid led by Musk to buy the firm, Reuters reported , citing sources familiar with the matter.

Marc Toberoff, Musk’s working lawyer, told Reuters that he had sent the offer on Monday.

At the same time, other sources close to OpenAI’s board claimed they had not received any formal bid from Musk’s team.

Talking about the potential offer at the Paris AI Summit, Altman told reporters: “I have nothing to say. I mean, it’s ridiculous.

“The company is not for sale. It’s another one of his tactics to try to mess with us.”

Elon Musk’s Criticism of Sam Altman

After successfully launching the non-profit firm in 2015, Musk left the company three years later, citing a conflict of interest with his AI work at Tesla.

Shortly after his departure, the firm switched to a capped for-profit model, which allowed it to attract substantial funding from private companies.

Musk heavily criticized this move, claiming the company had prioritized corporate profits over its original goal of prioritizing AI research for humanity’s welfare.

Since his departure, Musk has criticized almost every move made by Altman and OpenAI, from its $1 billion investment from Microsoft in 2019 to its deeper integration with consumer products.

The Tesla boss has since sued the firm numerous times over allegations that it illegally converted the operation. In one lawsuit, Musk even claimed that Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman “manipulated” him to help create the company.

The lawsuit stated that Musk was “deceived” by fellow co-founders, preying on “Musk’s humanitarian concern about the existential dangers posed by AI.”

OpenAI Fires Back

In December, OpenAI responded to Musk’s latest lawsuit with a blog post claiming the Tesla CEO had previously advocated for the organization to become a for-profit.

“Musk’s latest legal filing against OpenAI marks his fourth attempt in less than a year to reframe his claims,” OpenAI said. “However, his own words and actions speak for themselves.”

In the blog post, OpenAI provides emails dating back to 2015, which allegedly show the Tesla boss questioning nonprofit status.

“Elon not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit as OpenAI’s proposed new structure,” OpenAI wrote. “When he didn’t get majority equity and full control, he walked away and told us we would fail.”

“You can’t sue your way to AGI,” OpenAI stated, alluding to the fact that Musk’s legal battles actually revolved around competition between the two billionaires.

Elon Musk Bullying Accusations

Since his departure, Musk has launched his own AI startup, xAI, with its chatbot Grok behind a paywall for X subscribers.

Launched in 2023, Musk has marketed the startup differently by focusing on it being “truth-seeking” and has repeatedly claimed that “AI should be open and transparent, not proprietary.”

This puts Tesla’s boss in direct competition with OpenAI and ChatGPT, but Altman claims Musk’s competition is with everyone.

Talking on a Bari Weiss podcast , Altman slammed Musk as a “bully” who “clearly likes to get in fights,” adding:

“Right now, it’s me. It’s been Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, lots of other people. And I think, fundamentally, this is about OpenAI doing really well. Elon cares about doing really well.”

Musk and Altman’s Impact on AI

There’s no denying that two major AI billionaires arguing about the ethics of technology will likely impact its progress in the future.

Over the past year, Musk’s relationship with President-elect Donald Trump has blossomed beyond a friendship into something more powerful.

The Tesla CEO’s recent appointment to head up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could position him as a key figure in shaping AI policy.

However, Altman remains hopeful that their feud will not lead to Musk abusing this power and hurting OpenAI’s AI development.

“I think there are people who will really be a jerk on Twitter, who will still not abuse the system of a country they’re now in a sort of extremely influential political role for,” Altman said during the Weiss podcast. “That seems completely different to me.”

Regardless, Trump’s upcoming presidency has promised to significantly shape the future of AI, with the president-elect vowing to lift previously restrictive guardrails on technology development.

Following Musk’s lead, Altman has expressed a willingness to collaborate with the incoming administration and said he believed Trump would work well to boost the industry.

Musk and Altman’s alignment of respect for Trump could potentially see the President-elect bring the two feuding billionaires back together, but that remains to be seen.