Inc. Magazine
Sam Altman is outplaying Elon Musk in the tech rivalry game. After Musk criticized Altman’s AI project, Altman responded with sharp, humorous remarks, turning the tables. His witty comebacks not only defuse Musk’s attacks but also showcase his leadership and ability to win the PR battle with humor and finesse.
Sam Altman Is Beating Elon Musk at His Own Game, and It’s Honestly Brilliant
Author: Jason Aten
Sam Altman and Elon Musk aren’t friends. They used to be colleagues back when the two were co-founders of OpenAI, and they seemingly shared the belief that artificial intelligence could be a huge net benefit for society. Eventually, though, Musk left OpenAI to do his own thing after disagreements about the governance of the nonprofit company and its mission.
Since then, Musk hasn’t hidden his anger with Altman and OpenAI. He’s currently suing the company over its decision to become a for-profit corporation, and he regularly trolls the company on X—the platform he bought for $44 billion back in 2022. All of which is why the past week has been hilarious.
On Tuesday, Altman was at the White House, along with Oracle chairman Larry Ellison and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, for an event where President Donald Trump announced the launch of Stargate, a $500 billion artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure partnership between OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX. According to the announcement, the project aims to construct advanced data centers across the United States to bolster AI development and maintain American leadership in the field. The initial phase includes a $100 billion investment, with the first data center already under construction in Texas.
Afterward, Musk, who—I remind you—is a White House adviser, took to X to badmouth the whole thing. “They don’t actually have the money,” he replied to an OpenAI post about Stargate.
That’s where things get interesting. “i genuinely respect your accomplishments and think you are the most inspiring entrepreneur of our time,” Altman replied. Musk didn’t seem persuaded by flattery, posting that he had it “on good authority” that SoftBank had less than $10 billion of the commitment actually on hand.
Pushing back again, Altman pointed out to Musk that “what is great for the country isn’t always what’s optimal for your companies, but in your new role i hope you’ll mostly put [America] first.” Later, Altman posted, seemingly in reference to Musk, “just one more mean tweet and then maybe you’ll love yourself … ”
Altman, if it’s possible, comes off here as both the head of the most dominant consumer AI company on the planet as well as the underdog. On the other hand, if you’re Musk, this has to hurt. He leveraged his account on X to promote Trump and his agenda. He spent an estimated $250 million of his own money to get Trump elected. He invited Trump to Texas to watch a Starship launch. He showed up to speak at rallies and did everything he could to make sure Trump became president.
If you think the reason is because he believes in Trump’s principles, you might be missing the point. For that matter, it isn’t entirely clear that Trump believes in any principles aside from whatever he thinks is best for himself at any given moment.
There’s no question that Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration is to benefit his companies. That’s not particularly unique. Every one of the tech CEOs that attended Trump’s inauguration—a list that, in addition to Musk, includes Tim Cook (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin, Amazon), Sundar Pichai (Google)—was there because they hope to influence some aspect of how he governs. At least, to the extent that it affects their businesses.
It has to make him angry that his biggest nemesis is standing next to his new BFF for the administration’s first big tech announcement. It doesn’t matter that the current White House had nothing to do with any of it, if giving President Trump credit is the price of standing in the White House to announce your new initiative, any of these CEOs would take that deal. It gives a measure of credibility to the thing they’re trying to do.
Musk obviously has a lot riding on his bet on Trump, and he doesn’t want to share—especially not with Altman. But it’s Altman’s response that is so interesting. Basically, he’s beating Musk at his own game, on his own platform.
When Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X), in 2022, he made a point of saying that it was about restoring free speech to the “digital town square.” Really, Musk was just super addicted to Twitter. He has used it to promote his companies and attack his enemies (including OpenAI and Altman).
Now, someone is giving it back to him, and it’s kind of brilliant. Sure, Altman is getting under Musk’s skin, but more important, he is diffusing the criticism Musk is tossing in his direction.
Is Sam Altman trolling Elon Musk? Absolutely. Is it hilarious? Without a doubt. But beyond the entertainment value, it’s a reminder that even the most visionary leaders are human—and that sometimes, a little humor can go a long way in making a point.
Credits: TCA, LLC.