OpenAI Sam Altman 'not that worried' about rival Elon Musk's influence in the Trump administration

NEW YORK — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk, said said he is “not that worried” about Musk's influence in the incoming Trump administration.

Altman told a New York Times conference Wednesday that he “may turn out to be wrong” but he strongly believes that Musk will do the right thing.

"It would be profoundly un-American to use political power, to the degree that Elon has it, to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses," Altman said. "And I don’t think people would tolerate that. I don’t think Elon would do it.”

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year alleging that the maker of ChatGPT betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk recently escalated the lawsuit by asking a federal judge to stop OpenAI's plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more fully.

Musk has also started his own rival AI company, xAI, that Altman said he considers a serious competitor.

President-elect Donald Trump is putting Musk, the world’s richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is an outside advisory committee that will work with people inside the government to reduce spending and regulations.