AI’s First Friends, Now Biggest Foes

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were once close friends, but their relationship soured leading to a bitter estrangement for more than a decade.

White the two eventually reconciled and remained friends till the end, but in the world of artificial intelligence, the same cannot be said about Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Not yet, anyway.

Once united in their mission to ensure AI benefits humanity, they now stand on opposing sides of a heated debate that's shaping the future of this cutting-edge technology.

How It All Started

The Musk-Altman alliance began in the early 2010s when the now OpenAI CEO was making waves at startup accelerator YCombinator.

A tour of SpaceX left a lasting impression on Altman, who was struck by Musk's unwavering conviction about sending rockets to Mars. This encounter set the stage for a relationship that would evolve from mentorship to rivalry.

By 2014, Musk and Altman were exchanging emails about the potential dangers of AI. Their conversations reflected a growing unease about the technology's rapid advancement and its implications for humanity.

This shared concern led to a pivotal moment in May 2015 when Altman proposed creating an "AI lab" to rival industry leaders like Google's DeepMind.

In 2015, Musk and Altman joined forces with other tech luminaries to create OpenAI, a billion-dollar initiative aimed at developing beneficial AI.

Cracks In The Foundation

As OpenAI grew, so did the differences between its co-founders. 

According to court documents, Musk contributed over $44 million to OpenAI and even covered the company's rent. However, by 2017, he grew increasingly frustrated, feeling that the organization's progress in advancing its technology was too slow and wanting to take action.

Moreover, Musk's proposal to merge OpenAI with Tesla or take full control was met with resistance, setting the stage for his eventual departure.

February 2018 marked a turning point. Musk left OpenAI's board, citing conflicts with Tesla's AI development.

This move coincided with OpenAI's shift towards a capped-profit model and a significant partnership with Microsoft Corporation.

“As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon,” OpenAI said in a blog post at the time, noting that Musk would still offer guidance and contributions.

… But The ChatGPT Catalyst

After Musk left the AI startup, he remained on friendly terms with Altman, according to WSJ reporter Berber Jin. The Tesla CEO also continued to pay the organization's rent and donate money.

Musk reportedly believed that OpenAI lacked direction after he left, and the company didn’t occupy much of his attention until the release of ChatGPT in 2022.

The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 catapulted OpenAI to the forefront of AI innovation and reignited Musk's concerns about the company's direction.

He launched repeated public attacks against Altman on Twitter (now X) and accused Altman of turning OpenAI into a for-profit entity primarily focused on money and dominated by Microsoft.

Musk expressed deep concern over the future of AI, particularly how ChatGPT's success was fueling a potentially dangerous race among companies to create increasingly powerful AI technologies.

In March 2023, he, along with Steve Wozniak and several others, signed an open letter calling for a six-month halt on the development of advanced AI systems, more powerful than GPT-4.

Legal Battles And Public Spats

The rivalry escalated to the courtroom in 2023 when Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, alleging they had prioritized profit over humanity's benefit.

Musk has publicly criticized ChatGPT as "woke" and launched his own chatbot, Grok, in response.

Previously, he also said that Altman is recklessly developing AI that could harm humanity, dramatically stating that Altman now possesses "the ring of power" – a reference to the corrupting influence of power in J.R.R. Tolkien's works.

In June 2024, Musk's legal team announced that they were withdrawing the lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Altman.

However, in August, Musk re-ignited the feud and filed a similar complaint, accusing Altman and another co-founder Greg Brockman, of putting commercial interests ahead of their initial mission to serve the greater good of humanity.

Point Of No Return?

What could permanently prevent these two tech legends from reconnecting somewhere down the line could be a move that some in the tech industry aren’t surprised by. Altman has reportedly asked OpenAI investors who participated in the latest $6.6 billion funding round – that values the AI startup at a whopping $157 billion – to avoid investing in five other AI rivals.

This alleged list includes Musk’s xAI.

Reacting to the reports, Musk said “OpenAI is evil.” However, it is worth noting that Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood, who has invested in Tesla and xAI both, denied these reports, saying it was “not true” at least in the case of her investment firm.

It’s not clear yet if Altman formally or informally asked OpenAI investors to stay away from his AI rivals, but Musk’s reaction shows how deeply he feels wronged by his once close friend with whom he co-founded the world’s biggest AI startup.

Will the two ever kiss and make up? Only time will tell.

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