Elon Musk and Sam Altman are still trading jabs over OpenAI

The ongoing clash between tech titans Elon Musk and Sam Altman shows no signs of abating, as the two exchanged barbs on the social media platform X this past weekend regarding OpenAI. Musk criticized Altman in a post, accusing him of 'stealing a non-profit' in response to Altman's mention of canceling a Tesla order. Musk and Altman, who co-founded OpenAI along with Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman in 2015, have seen their relationship deteriorate over the years. After stepping down from OpenAI's board in 2018, Musk launched his own AI venture, xAI, in 2023, while Altman continues to lead OpenAI as CEO. In a counter to Musk's accusations, Altman remarked on X, 'I helped turn the thing you left for dead into what should be the largest non-profit ever.' He asserted that the organizational structure of OpenAI, as it exists now, is essential for its success. Altman further pointed out Musk’s previous interest in having Tesla take over OpenAI entirely, dismissing the non-profit model. The most recent exchanges began when Altman shared an email confirming a $45,000 payment for a Tesla Roadster from July 2018, along with a request for a refund that went unanswered. Neither Musk nor Altman’s representatives responded to requests for comment. Since Musk departed from the board, he has been openly critical of Altman and OpenAI's evolution. He previously noted, 'OpenAI was created as an open-source, non-profit organization to counterbalance Google, but it has morphed into a closed-source, profit-driven entity effectively controlled by Microsoft.' Musk has also pursued legal action against OpenAI and its leadership, claiming they misled him into founding the organization by playing on his concerns about artificial intelligence. His legal team has sought to halt OpenAI's transition from a non-profit to a for-profit model, which was finalized in October. OpenAI announced that its non-profit division, now known as the OpenAI Foundation, remains at the helm of its for-profit operations, which are currently valued at around $130 billion. In a recent blog post, OpenAI clarified that the Foundation retains equity in its for-profit counterpart, emphasizing that both entities aim to collaborate on addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by advancements in AI.