Tesla CEO Elon Musk, tapped by President-elect to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, spoke at the America First Policy Institute at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
Elon Musk’s possible political influence under the incoming Trump administration is not a concern for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—who dismissed claims that the X owner would use lawfare to stifle competition.
During a sit-down at the annual New York Times DealBook Summit, CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin highlighted a Wall Street Journal article that suggested Altman and other tech titans like Jeff Bezos were worried about Musk’s relationship with President-elect Donald Trump.
“I may turn out to be wrong. I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that Americans—it would be profoundly un-American to use political power, to the degree that Elon has it, to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses,” Altman replied.
“I don’t think people would tolerate it and I don’t think Elon would do it,” he added.
ELON MUSK SUES OPENAI, SAM ALTMAN AGAIN
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that he is not particularly worried about X owner Elon Musk using his political influence to stifle competition. (Photo by Brandon Bel/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Altman also said that while there are “many things not to like about” Musk, he is “not that worried” about political lawfare because it would go against the values he believes the tech billionaire holds dear.
Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman in February, accusing his company, OpenAI, of violating its own mission statement by partnering with Microsoft.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk withdrew the lawsuit in June following a conversation in Big Sky, Montana. The pair allegedly hugged, according to people who witnessed the interaction.
Musk refiled the lawsuit in August, adding that OpenAI executives manipulated him into becoming the company’s cofounder by exaggerating concerns about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI).
SEN. ERNST SENDS LETTER TO MUSK, RAMASWAMY DETAILING AREAS WHERE DOGE CAN CUT SPENDING
FILE PHOTO: Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, U.S., October 18, 2017. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
He later added Microsoft to the lawsuit and claimed the tech conglomerate had formed a monopoly by partnering with OpenAI.
Trump tapped Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to stop wasteful government spending.
Trump said in a statement that DOGE “will provide advice and guidance from outside of government and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large-scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before.”
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Musk and Ramaswamy noted that they will work “as outside volunteers, not federal officials or employees.”
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