Hajra Naz
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has opened up about his complicated relationship with Elon Musk, saying he no longer views the Tesla billionaire with the same admiration he once did.
Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI together in 2015, but their partnership didn’t last. Musk stepped down from the company’s board in 2018, and since then, their relationship has unraveled—culminating in lawsuits, public criticism, and direct competition.
Speaking in a recent interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, Altman reflected on how his perception of Musk has changed over the years.
“For a long time, I looked up to him as an incredible hero, a great jewel for humanity,” Altman said. “I have different feelings now. There are things about him that are incredible, and I’m grateful for a lot of what he’s done. But there are also traits I don’t admire.”
Neither Altman nor Musk’s representatives responded to Business Insider’s request for comment.
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From Early Supporter to Fierce Rival
Musk played a major role in OpenAI’s early days, helping fund the startup, though the exact amount remains disputed. Musk has claimed he contributed around $100 million, while OpenAI has said the figure was under $45 million.
Since leaving OpenAI’s board, Musk has become one of the company’s sharpest critics—particularly targeting its partnership with Microsoft. In February 2024, he sued Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of abandoning their nonprofit mission. Musk briefly withdrew the lawsuit in June before refiling it in August.
Back in March, Musk suggested he would drop the case if OpenAI changed its name to “ClosedAI.”
The tech mogul has also turned his attention to Apple, accusing the iPhone maker of showing bias toward OpenAI on its App Store. In August 2024, Musk filed an antitrust lawsuit against both Apple and OpenAI, calling Apple’s conduct “an unequivocal antitrust violation.”
Altman responded directly on X, writing, “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
The Rise of xAI
While Musk has distanced himself from OpenAI, he has also been building his own competitor. In July 2023, he launched xAI, an AI startup positioned as a direct rival to Altman’s company.
xAI has quickly gained traction, raising over $12 billion in funding last year and reaching a valuation of around $50 billion. In June, Morgan Stanley reported that xAI secured an additional $10 billion in debt and equity to expand its data centers and develop its chatbot, Grok. By comparison, OpenAI’s most recent funding round valued the company at about $300 billion.
Read More: Sam Altman Says Less Than 1% of User-AI Relationships Are “Unhealthy,” But Concerns Remain
A Split That Still Stings
Altman told Carlson that Musk originally left OpenAI because he doubted its chances of success. “He told me he didn’t think we were on a trajectory to be successful,” Altman recalled. “Then, we did OK. I think he got understandably upset. I would feel bad in that situation.”
Despite acknowledging Musk’s brilliance, Altman made it clear that his admiration has faded. What began as a partnership built on a shared vision of advancing artificial intelligence has now turned into one of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile rivalries.
