OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called co-founder Elon Musk a “bully” in a new interview, but said he would “of course” still work with the SpaceXAI CEO.
During a wide-ranging conversation with Vanity Fair, Altman reiterated the necessity of AI companies working not only with each other to continue developing artificial intelligence technology safely but also with local and national governments and public officials. Altman, for his part, said he believes companies like OpenAI have a “window” right now to band together.
“Speaking for myself, my statements on this I think have been unbelievably consistent over the last decade,” Altman told Vanity Fair, adding, “The thing that is different now is more people feel it and believe it and we may have a window of public support to do it.”
When his interviewer noted that Altman’s occasional public “negging” of Musk seems to fly in the face of the camaraderie that the AI industry is now trying to promote, the OpenAI CEO responded, “Who do you think has been nicer to each other in that relationship? I won’t call myself a saint. But I’m not sure if I’m the one that you’re supposed to come after between Elon and me.”
“Look, I don’t like bullies, and I think Elon’s a bully,” Altman explained. “And so I think once in a while you got to punch a bully back in the nose. And I also think Elon, like many bullies, only respects people who do. So if you want me to be able to work with him, maybe you should be happy I hit back once in a while, but I will work with Elon, of course.”
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and initially served as the company’s co-chair alongside Altman. The Tesla CEO resigned from his Board of Directors seat three years later in 2018, noting a “potential future conflict” between his OpenAI responsibilities and the AI advancements happening within Tesla at the time.
In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman accusing the two parties of pivoting OpenAI’s focus from public benefit to one of profit optimization. In response, OpenAI countersued Musk, accusing him of engaging in “bad-faith tactics” to mar the company’s public reputation and slow its growth for his own benefit.
In April of this year, Musk amended his lawsuit demanding that OpenAI walk back its transition from a non-profit company to a for-profit entity. However, in May, a federal ground jury found that Musk had missed his deadlines to sue OpenAI and ruled in the latter’s favor.
Near the end of his Vanity Fair interview, Altman again called Musk “not nice” but also reiterated his willingness and desire to work with the SpaceXAI founder.
“I really want to emphasize how willing I am and how willing I think our whole company is to work with them,” Altman said, adding of the current moment in the AI industry’s history, “We feel the weight of this.”
