Musk, Altman Reignite Feud as OpenAI Reshapes Under New Foundation
The timing of the announcement and Musk’s response goes back to a public fallout earlier last year.
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[Image source: Chetan Jha/MITSMR India]
A fiery exchange between Elon Musk and Sam Altman on X (formerly Twitter) reignited long-standing tensions between the two co-founders of OpenAI, just as the company announced a major new governance overhaul.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in December 2015 and resigned from its board in February 2018, accused Altman of having “stolen a non-profit,” prompting a swift reply from the OpenAI CEO:
“I helped turn the thing you left for dead into what should be the largest non-profit ever. You know as well as anyone a structure like what OpenAI has now is required to make that happen. You also wanted Tesla to take OpenAI over, no nonprofit at all. And you said we had a 0% chance of success. Now you have a great AI company, and so do we. Can’t we all just move on?”
The online spat coincided with OpenAI’s announcement of a new structure designed to align fundraising with its public-interest mission. A newly formed OpenAI Foundation, a nonprofit entity, will now govern the OpenAI Group, a public benefit corporation (PBC). The foundation will initially own about 26% of the PBC and can increase its stake through performance-based warrants.
The restructuring aims to reassure critics that OpenAI remains focused on ensuring artificial general intelligence (AGI) “benefits all of humanity,” even as it raises billions in private investment.
The timing of the announcement and Musk’s response goes back to a public fallout earlier last year.
In a detailed 2024 blog post, OpenAI had laid out its version of the split with Musk, revealing that while he initially proposed a $1 billion funding commitment, he ultimately contributed less than $45 million, compared to $90 million from other donors.
The post also revealed that Musk had sought majority control, CEO authority, and even floated a merger with Tesla, arguing that “Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google.” When the team resisted, Musk walked away, declaring that OpenAI had a “0% chance of success.”
Since then, OpenAI has transformed into one of the influential AI organizations in the world.
