OpenAI CEO: Elon Musk Is a ‘Legendary Entrepreneur’ But ‘Clearly a Bully’

Elon Musk is a “bully,” according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The Tesla CEO is “clearly a bully, and he’s also someone who likes to get in fights,” Altman said during a recent interview with The Free Press. However, he conceded that Musk “did a lot to help OpenAI in the early days” and called him a “legendary entrepreneur.”

Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but Musk left the OpenAI board in 2018. He later started his own AI startup, xAI, and launched the Grok chatbot, after bashing OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot as a propaganda machine.

Musk is now suing OpenAI over its plans to ditch its nonprofit status, among other things, a request that has also won the support of Meta.

Altman argues that Musk is just salty that he’s not in charge of OpenAI. “Everything we’re doing, I believe Elon would be happy about if he were in control of OpenAI,” he said.

However, Altman stopped short of suggesting Musk is abusing his potential influence over the incoming US government by cozying up to President-elect Donald Trump. “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. (Altman made a personal $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund.)

Musk launched his first lawsuit against OpenAI in March 2024 for alleged breach of contract and violations of unfair competition laws, among other charges. Roughly three months later, Musk dropped that lawsuit before refiling in August to allege wire fraud resulting in a “pattern of racketeering activity,” breaches of contract, and false advertising, among other claims.

During his podcast appearance, Altman reiterated OpenAI’s argument that “it was Elon that most wanted OpenAI to be a for-profit at one point,” adding that Musk allegedly “made a bunch of proposals—like OpenAI being part of Tesla—mostly just to create a new for-profit that he was going to be in control of.”

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

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