OpenAI CEO accuses Elon Musk of trying to slow company's progress
Sam Altman rejects X owner's $97.4 billion bid, claims rival aims to disrupt AI plans

ISTANBUL
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused Elon Musk on Tuesday of attempting to slow down his company’s progress, following Musk’s consortium bid to buy control of OpenAI for $97.4 billion.
“Elon tries all sorts of things for a long time. This is the latest ... I think he’s probably just trying to slow us down,” Altman told Bloomberg TV at the Paris AI Action Summit.
Underlining that OpenAI is not for sale, Altman criticized Musk’s tactics. “I wish he would just compete by building a better product, but I think there’s been a lot of tactics,” he said. Musk's X.AI was introduced in November 2023, Grok, a generative artificial intelligence chatbot similar to OpenAI's ChatGPT
❝OpenAI is not for sale❞
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) February 11, 2025
🔹OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claims Elon Musk is trying to buy his company, interpreting his intentions as seeking to ‘slow us down’
❝Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity❞
Altman says that he doesn’t ‘think he is a happy person’ when… pic.twitter.com/H8dkCRxjo5
When asked if Musk’s actions stem from insecurity, Altman replied: “Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy. I don’t think he’s, like, a happy person."
Altman also expressed minimal concern about Musk’s influence in US President Donald Trump’s administration but acknowledged it might warrant attention.
Musk has yet to respond to Altman’s comments.
Musk's move to buy OpenAI could complicate Altman's reorganization plans, including a shift to a for-profit model and its ambitious $500 billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure.
Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015, but Musk left in 2019, and Altman has since steered the company toward a for-profit structure.