Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, which is in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk, said he is “not really worried” about Musk's influence in the incoming Trump administration.
Altman told the New York Times on Wednesday that he strongly believes Musk will do the right thing, even though he “might turn out to be wrong.”
“It would be extremely un-American for a company like Elon to use political power to benefit their own business to the detriment of their competitors,” Altman said. “And I don't think people would tolerate that. I don't think Elon would do that.”
Musk, an early investor and director of OpenAI, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year, accusing ChatGPT's developers of violating its founding purpose of serving the public interest rather than profit.
Musk recently escalated the lawsuit by asking a federal judge to halt OpenAI's plans to transform the company more fully into a commercial enterprise.
Musk has also started his own rival AI company, xAI, which Altman says he considers a serious competitor.
President-elect Donald Trump has put Musk, the world's richest man, and entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an external advisory board that works with people. We plan to appoint someone. Cut spending and regulation within government.
