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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called billionaire Elon Musk a “friend.” Free press podcast on Thursday, despite the two tech giants’ ongoing public feud.

Why it matters

Musk is increasingly featured in US politics, with Kai Trump, the president-elect’s granddaughter, even saying he had been elevated to “uncle status” in a post-election family photo.

Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, reportedly joined Trump in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also spent Election Day at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and has reportedly been a near-constant presence at the resort since the Republican victory against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were in the Capitol recently to speak with lawmakers — mostly Republicans, according to the Associated Press. Leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency discussed proposals for budget cuts and other ways to cut programs and “Save America.”

Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with the mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. The company has since dabbled in the AI ​​boom, most famously with the release of ChatGPT. Musk left the company’s board in 2018, citing potential future conflicts of interest with his role at Tesla.

What to know

The two tech CEOs have a rich history of interaction, from co-founding businesses to complicated personal and legal battles over the future of artificial intelligence. Now, Altman told Bari Weiss that while the “bullying” took a “long time to get used to,” he still considers Musk a “friend.”

“I was recently talking to someone who I think is close, and they said ‘Look, Elon doesn’t have any friends. Elon makes computers. Elon doesn’t make friends,'” Altman said. “It was kind of a sad moment for me because I think of him as a friend…This is about Elon, this is not about me. It’s still shit. I had a long time to get used to it. Guess.”

Just before the start of the podcast, Weiss asked Atman about his relationship with Musk. Altman said he was “very grateful” for their time at OpenAI and that he believed Musk was “just a legendary entrepreneur.”

“He’s also clearly a bully, and he’s also someone who likes to fight,” Altman said. “Right now, it’s me. It’s been Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, a lot of other people.”

Altman called this “standard behavior” for Musk, noting that “everyone gets their time in their lights.”

In Thursday’s podcast, Altman said Musk would only be happy with OpenAI if it was him.

“I believe that with everything we do, Elon would be happy if he was in control of the company,” Altman said. “He left when he thought we were on a trajectory to fail and he also wouldn’t do something where he had total control over OpenAI.”

In February, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman and company president Greg Brockman, alleging the organization deviated from its original nonprofit mission by prioritizing profits and partnering with Microsoft.

He later added Microsoft as a defendant, accusing both companies of creating a monopoly.

“I’ve lost track of how many times Elon has sued us,” Altman said. “Our job is to build AGI in a way that benefits humanity and figure out a way to distribute it widely and safely. It’s not our job to get into a Twitter fight with Elon, but when we have to respond to legal filings, we will and sometimes we will provide context. “

Altman also added that he has no plans to turn his nonprofit into a for-profit organization because “nonprofits will remain nonprofits,” adding that he hopes to “become the biggest and most influential nonprofit of all time.”

Musk’s recent ventures include the launch of xAI, an artificial intelligence company that is a direct competitor to OpenAI. Altman said in the podcast that he had heard that Musk has majority ownership and control of the company, which “seems like a reasonable thing for him to do.”

What people are saying

Author and University of Missouri professor Karen Piper, on X: “Sam Altman wanted AI to be safe. Elon Musk wanted to control it and merge it with Tesla. Now he’s trying to crush Salmo Altman, who disagreed.”

Max Chafkin, tech reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek, on the Elon, Inc. podcast: “They both make points that the other one finds somewhat damaging. And they both kind of come off as people who talk a big game about the higher goals of what they’re doing, but then they’re very concerned behind the scenes.” with money, which kind of undermines the sense of higher purpose, I think it really shows a kind of political clumsiness.”

What happens next

Musk will serve as one of the heads of the Department of Government Efficiency — though some lawmakers are pushing for him to become House Speaker.

However, Altman has previously said he is “not interested” in Musk’s influence in the incoming Trump administration. In Thursday’s podcast, he said he doesn’t believe Musk will abuse his power in government, noting that it feels “totally different” to “bullying” on X.