The Blubber

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, currently embroiled in a legal battle with rival Elon Musk, expressed confidence Wednesday that Musk would not abuse his influence in the incoming Trump administration.

Speaking at a New York Times conference, Altman acknowledged the potential risks but said, “I’m not that worried.” He added, “It would be profoundly un-American to use political power, to the degree that Elon has it, to harm competitors and benefit his own businesses. I don’t think people would stand for it, and I don’t think Elon would do it.”

Musk, an early investor and former board member of OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company earlier this year, accusing it of straying from its original mission of prioritizing public good over profit. Musk recently escalated the legal battle, requesting a federal judge block OpenAI’s plans to further transition into a for-profit entity.

Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an external advisory body tasked with reducing government spending and regulations.

Altman, whose company faces growing competition from Musk’s AI startup xAI, described the rivalry as a business matter but admitted to personal regret over their strained relationship. “I feel tremendously sad,” he said, though he noted, “He’s a competitor, and we’re doing well.”

Copyright Lawsuit with The New York Times

Altman also addressed a separate lawsuit OpenAI is facing from The New York Times, which hosted the DealBook summit where Altman spoke. The Times, along with other news organizations, has accused OpenAI and its partner Microsoft of copyright infringement for using news articles to train AI models like ChatGPT.

Defending OpenAI’s practices, Altman said, “If an AI reads something — a physics textbook — it can learn physics and apply that knowledge to other things, just like a human can.”

In a court session Tuesday, lawyers from both sides debated how to handle evidence collection, with depositions scheduled to begin in January. A Times attorney claimed the publication had verified that millions of its articles were used to train OpenAI systems.

During his on-stage interview with Times journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, Altman struck a critical tone, saying, “I think The New York Times is on the wrong side of history in many ways.”

Sorkin replied with humor, “We can discuss and debate that in court,” prompting laughter from the audience.