AI united Altman and Musk, then drove them apart

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Elon Musk once called AI an 'existential threat' to humanity. — Reuters pic

NEW YORK, April 26 —  Elon Musk and Sam Altman bonded over artificial intelligence in a project that became OpenAI, but a clash of visions will see the polarising figures face off in court in a trial that opens next week.

Silicon Valley lore traces their first meeting back to 2012, in an encounter prompted by investor Geoff Ralston.

Nearly 14 years younger than Musk, who was born in June of 1971, Altman was said to be impressed by the Tesla chief’s powers of persuasion.

While yet to reach the age of 30, Altman already had a tech world reputation as a brilliant dealmaker.

Altman’s unassuming, friendly demeanor contrasted sharply with Musk’s abrasive style, but they shared an entrepreneurial spirit and a penchant for risk-taking.

Libertarian Musk and the apolitical Altman found common ground in a shared belief about the future of AI.

Musk saw Google, and its subsidiary DeepMind, as out to create AI that thinks sharper than people do with little regard for controlling it.

Just months before OpenAI was officially founded in early 2015, Altman published a blog post calling for measures to “limit the threat” posed by AI, complete with concrete proposals.

This philosophy was set as the guiding principle at OpenAI: born a non-profit organization dedicated to the responsible advancement of AI and boasting a commitment to making its research and source code freely accessible to the public.

Altman successfully pitched the OpenAI concept to Musk, who went on to invest at least $38 million to get the nascent entity established.

Altruistic AI? 

In February of 2018, the South Africa-born entrepreneur behind Tesla, SpaceX and other companies resigned from OpenAI’s board to ostensibly focus on his other commercial endeavors.

Behind the scenes, however, Musk and Altman were clashing over a proposed shift of OpenAI to a for-profit business that could attract investors in the capital-intensive AI race.

OpenAI completed that transformation in 2025, some three years after its ChatGPT digital assistant made AI and those who build it all the rage in the tech world.

After years as a champion of an approach in which AI serves society rather than corporate coffers, Musk muddied his message by launching a private xAI startup in July of 2023.

The mission statements for xAI and its chatbot Grok give scant mention to dangers of the technology even though Musk once called it an “existential threat” to humanity.

The rift between Altman and Musk widened as the world’s richest man moved to Texas and became an ally of US President Donald Trump while OpenAI stayed in San Francisco and focused on improving its technology.

Musk has used his social media platform X to go on the offensive with posts that include likening Altman to a “Game of Thrones” character seen as a master manipulator.

Musk, 54, even filed a lawsuit seeking to oust 41-year-old Altman as OpenAI chief executive. Selection of jurors in a trial for that case is set for Monday.

Altman has fired back on social media, contending Musk’s agenda is to rule over the most powerful AI.

“The current struggle between the two billionaires is shaped by their egos and belief that the winner will control a new technology,” contended Darryl Cunningham, author of a book about Musk.

“It seems doubtful to me that either can control AI.” — AFP