{"id":8823,"date":"2026-04-20T22:51:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/8823\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:51:19","slug":"elon-musks-feud-with-sam-altman-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/8823\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk’s feud with Sam Altman explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inside the rotunda at Donald Trump\u2019s second inauguration<\/a> the president\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, went down the line shaking hands with each tech billionaire who showed up to kiss the ring \u2014 all except Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

It was an odd slight from Kushner to pass over the man who just spent $290 million of his own money to help get Trump elected, while the others \u2014 Google\u2019s Sundar Pichai, Meta\u2019s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos \u2014 had traditionally backed Democrats or leaned with Silicon Valley\u2019s liberal culture. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Two days after the inauguration, Musk\u2019s very public budding bromance<\/a> with the Commander-in-Chief was dealt another blow when the president announced an ambitious $500 billion AI data center deal, Stargate, in a joint venture with tech giant OpenAI \u2014 icing out Musk\u2019s own budding AI company.<\/p>\n

Former \u201cFirst Buddy\u201d Elon Musk embraces Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Penn. in October 2024. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hates one of the people in the deal,\u201d Trump bluntly\u00a0told reporters<\/a> of Musk during a press conference about Stargate.<\/p>\n

Trump was referring to OpenAI boss Sam Altman. Musk, boss of Tesla and Space X, immediately took to the social media platform he owns, X, to call Altman a \u201cswindler\u201d and a \u201cliar\u201d and claimed Stargate didn\u2019t have the funds it purported to.<\/p>\n

Days after his second inauguration, President Trump revealed a $500 billion AI deal with OpenAI and other ventures and was joined by OpenAI boss Sam Altman at the White House. Getty Images<\/p>\n

One tech industry insider who spoke to The Post suggested Musk\u2019s entire election year blitz \u2014 which saw him become a MAGA superstar overnight through his get-out-the-vote operations and high-profile appearances with Trump \u2014 had less to do with politics and more to do with currying favor away from Altman.<\/p>\n

A former associate of Musk agrees that he never seemed political before 2024: \u201cPolitics is\u00a0a backstabbing world, and I was really shocked that Elon got involved in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Elon I knew was very libertarian,\u00a0a live-and-let-live sort of attitude,\u00a0not particularly right or left.\u00a0I suspect some of the politics\u00a0with him are just\u00a0who he\u2019s around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman shares photos of himself riding the waves. The tech billionaire is known for enjoying the finer things in life. @sama\/X<\/p>\n

Elon Musk cheers with raised fists at the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC during Trump\u2019s second inauguration. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO spent nearly $300 million to get Trump re-elected, some say all out of spite for Altman. POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Perhaps he didn\u2019t realize how entrenched Altman is with the Trumps. Jared\u2019s brother, Joshua, through his Thrive Capital <\/a>is one of OpenAI\u2019s more significant financial backers, making a series of investments between 2022 and 2026 totaling well over $2 billion.<\/p>\n

And once Musk had a brief fall out with Trump in June 2025, Altman was quick to step in and by September was accompanying the president to the UK to discuss AI initiatives.<\/p>\n

Aside from the politics, insiders say Musk doesn\u2019t have time for people who aren\u2019t hands-on like he is.<\/p>\n

OpenAI boss Altman accompanied Trump on a Middle East tour last year, including a stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. REUTERS<\/p>\n

New \u201cFirst Buddy\u201d Altman was also in tow on an official state visit to the UK, where he discussed AI initiatives with the drizzly little island nation. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t like people [like Altman] who don\u2019t have a hand in building stuff. The lawyers, the recruiter-types, the businesspeople, the posers and pontificators, he definitely looks down his nose at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to see someone like [Altman] as a necessary evil [in Silicon Valley].\u201d<\/p>\n

Those close to Altman paint him in a better light, as a tycoon whose superpower lies in salesmanship and talent scouting, rather than the technical aspects of the AI world.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou probably could have said the same about Steve Jobs, right?\u201d former OpenAI safety researcher Scott Aaronson told The Post.<\/p>\n

Sam Altman lives the high life and his gob-smacking portfolio of homes includes a $43 million oceanside Hawaii estate. Maxar Technologies<\/p>\n

Altman\u2019s $250 million superyacht has a nightclub, helipad and movie theater. YouTube<\/p>\n

\u201cThat he was merely a manager and not a tech guy. There\u2019s a long history of such people who are able to put together and inspire a team that can have a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0think\u00a0everyone would agree that [Altman] is not a deep technical thinker. He\u2019s obviously very intelligent, you can talk to him about any technical thing he will listen and ask good questions,\u201d added Aaronson.<\/p>\n

Musk and Altman had originally worked together. Musk, then on his way to becoming the richest man in the world, was an early donor and co-founder of OpenAI <\/a>in 2015. He claims he put in $38 million in seed money and recruited top talent for the project, which was then a non-profit.<\/p>\n

What happened next is at the center of the lawsuit which will come to a head in an Oakland, Calif., federal courtroom later this month.<\/p>\n

Nasty tales floating around allege Altman bandies about with a \u201ctwink army\u201d of young attractive men and that he murdered former OpenAI researcher and copyright whistleblower Suchir Balaji, 26, who mysteriously died in November 2024 by an apparent suicide in his San Francisco apartment. Altman has denied all the accusations. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Musk joined the ruthless and cutthroat AI business on his own in 2023, when he launched the for-profit xAI with a mission to build a \u201cmaximum truth-seeking AI\u201d that countered political correctness and biases he saw in other AI models. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Musk is suing OpenAI, Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman and the company\u2019s biggest investor, Microsoft, which owns a 27% stake in the company.<\/p>\n

He alleges in the lawsuit he was \u201cmanipulated\u201d by \u201cAltman\u2019s \u201clong con\u201d and OpenAI<\/a> has breached its founding nonprofit mission \u2014 to develop AI for humanity\u2019s benefit and not for profit \u2014 by shifting to a for-profit structure and partnering closely with Microsoft.<\/p>\n

In 2018, after Altman named himself president of OpenAI, Musk publicly stepped down from its board of directors, stating a conflict of interest as he was starting his own AI operation for his car company Tesla\u2019s autonomous driving program. Since that time he\u2019s also launched his own commercial venture, Grok AI, which partners with X.<\/p>\n

Former SpaceX executive Vincent Peters told The Post, \u201cUnlike most tech entrepreneurs, Elon\u2019s not going to give you a fireside chat about work that someone else at the company has done.\u201d vincentpeters\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Former OpenAI researcher Scott Aaronson told The Post \u201cI\u00a0think\u00a0everyone would agree that [Altman] is not a deep technical thinker. He\u2019s obviously very intelligent, you can talk to him about any technical thing he will listen and ask good questions.\u201d Courtesy of Scott Aaronson<\/p>\n

Five months before his departure, Musk wrote in an email to OpenAI brass: \u201cGuys, I\u2019ve had enough [\u2026] Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit\u201d adding, \u201cI\u2019m just being a fool who is essentially providing free funding for you to create a startup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources told The Post Musk feels he\u2019s found himself in the position of having funded his own AI competition \u2014 further fueling his animosity toward Altman.<\/p>\n

\u201cElon values loyalty above all,\u201d a former close associate of Musk told The Post, adding he\u2019s not someone you want to be on the wrong side of: \u201cThere are the two faces of Elon, or maybe it\u2019s the moods of Elon. The good Elon and the bad Elon. I think he\u2019s fundamentally a good person, but he definitely has some bad moods.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit, Musk demands the company return as much as $150 billion in \u201cill-gotten\u201d gains to OpenAI\u2019s nonprofit arm, fire CEO Altman and president Brockman and unwind their for-profit restructuring.<\/p>\n

Charles Kushner, father of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and his wife Seryl Kushner leaving the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris. Charles is Trump\u2019s ambassador to France. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kushner son Joshua attends the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in 2026. Through his Thrive Capital, Jared Kushner\u2019s brother is a longtime backer of OpenAI. WireImage<\/p>\n

He has said any damages he is awarded will go to charity. Neither he nor Altman responded to The Post\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

OpenAI has called Musk\u2019s lawsuit \u201cbaseless,\u201d a \u201csham\u201d and a \u201charassment campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, the company sent a letter to investors warning that it expected Musk to make \u201cdeliberately outlandish, attention-grabbing claims\u201d ahead of the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit also claims fraud,\u00a0saying Musk was deceived by Altman and Brockman about making the company for-profit and that they and other investors have enriched themselves at the expense of Musk.<\/p>\n

Altman is reported to own a $20 million McLaren F1 hypercar. @bluskyfilms\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Last year, sister Annie Altman filed a civil suit against her brother alleging he sexually abused her for a decade beginning in 1997, when he was 12 and she was three. Altman has denied all accusations and is countersuing his sister for defamation. via REUTERS<\/p>\n

Although OpenAI is valued at over $850 billion, it only has an annual revenue of around $20 billion. The company\u2019s chatbot, ChatGPT, boasts 900 million weekly users, only 50 million of which are paid subscribers.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t stop Altman living a billionaire lifestyle. The founder, who has one child by surrogacy with software engineer husband Oliver Mulherin, revels in the high life\u2014owning a $27 million San Francisco <\/a>mansion; a $16 million Napa Valley ranch; a 22-acre, $49 million Hawaii compound; a $250 million superyacht with a helipad and at least two hypercars, including a $20 million McLaren F1.<\/p>\n

In contrast Musk, a father of 14, is famously unmaterialistic and socially awkward.<\/p>\n

He recently sold off all his property, believing possessions \u201cweigh you down,\u201d and has been known to sleep on office floors and borrowed sofas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason he cares about money is to the extent that it allows him to do the things he wants to do. He\u2019ll spend money for privacy or comfort, but you\u2019ll never hear him bragging about a $100 million Hawaii compound, or whatever,\u201d the ex-associate of Musk said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything he does is geared toward going to Mars,\u201d with Space X.<\/p>\n

At that company Musk sat in a cubicle rather than a fancy corner office and rolled up to work each morning in a red Tesla Model 3 \u2014 not even his car company\u2019s spiffiest model, recalled AI researcher and former SpaceX employee Vincent Peters to The Post.<\/p>\n

At Trump\u2019s second inauguration, son-in-law Jared went down the line shaking hands with the tech titans who assembled to kiss the throne \u2014 mysteriously snubbing Musk, who spent $300 million to get Trump elected. Getty Images<\/p>\n

A look inside Elon Musk\u2019s sparse Boca Chica, Texas, home. The famously unmaterialistic billionaire is said to reject possessions \u2014 unlike his nemesis, Altman. @DimaZeniuk\/X<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike most tech entrepreneurs, Elon\u2019s not going to give you a fireside chat about work that someone else at the company has done,\u201d said Peters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been around forever and no one has accused him of being untrustworthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others describe Musk as \u201cunpredictable\u201d and \u201caudacious,\u201d and, as Altman himself put it at one point last year \u201cElon busts up with everybody. That\u2019s what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the billionaire technocrats duke it out in the courts their lawyers will paint them each in a flattering light and praise their innovation and intellect. But not everyone feels that by being rich, it means they\u2019re as cerebral as they\u2019re made out to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to ascribe a degree of ten-dimensional chess to these people that might not be there.\u00a0 You see them on social media just reacting to stuff.\u00a0 To what degree are they actually gaming this out a few moves in the future? And to what degree\u00a0are they really just reacting like a toddler?\u201d questioned Aaronson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the rotunda at Donald Trump\u2019s second inauguration the president\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, went down the line shaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[25,140,7600,7601,7602,157,370,1161,604,465],"class_list":["post-8823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-openai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-elon-musk","tag-jared-kushner","tag-joshua-kushner","tag-lawsuits","tag-openai","tag-sam-altman","tag-silicon-valley","tag-trump","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}