Musk has emerged as a top ally to President-elect Donald Trump and was recently appointed to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Musk and Altman have a tense relationship. Musk, who helped launch OpenAI as a nonprofit, has spent months pursuing litigation against Altman and the ChatGPT maker for allegedly betraying its founding mission. While OpenAI remains the market leader for generative AI products, Musk’s company, xAI, has rapidly gained momentum by raising billions from investors.
In the interview Wednesday, Altman called Musk’s startup “a serious competitor” to OpenAI and said he had “tremendous respect” for Musk’s plans to build an xAI data center in Tennessee. Altman also expressed disappointment at the state of their relationship.
It’s “tremendously sad,” he said, when asked about Musk’s lawsuit. “I grew up with Elon as a mega hero.”
