OpenAI CEO Calls Musk a "Bully," Says Only Striking Back Earns His Respect

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said in an interview that anyone hoping to work with Elon Musk must accept a certain degree of dramatic conflict.

Altman said in the interview: "I think sometimes you have to punch a bully in the face. And I think Musk, like many bullies, only respects people who are willing to hit back."

The famous falling-out between Altman and Musk has been recounted repeatedly and sits at the heart of multiple legal disputes.

Their conflict is far from the only feud still smoldering in the AI industry; it has now also become the backdrop against which the world's leading AI companies are trying to reach consensus on the direction of technology governance.

Altman said that amid renewed industry concerns about AI safety, he is willing to work with Musk.

Even though Musk now often calls his former ally "Scam Altman."

He said: "If you want me to be able to work with him, then maybe you should be glad that I occasionally hit back. Of course, I am willing to work with Elon."

Altman said he "wouldn't call himself a saint."

At the same time, he does not believe he is the biggest problem.

"Between Elon and me, I'm not sure I'm the one you should be targeting," he said.

In July, when a user on the social platform X claimed to have "warned the whole world about 'Scam Altman,'" Musk lashed out at Altman.

Musk reposted the post and commented: "He has taken scamming to a new level."

In response, Altman attacked Musk's proposal to build orbital data centers — the OpenAI CEO had already expressed skepticism about the idea multiple times before.

"Dude, you're the one peddling short-term space data centers to public market investors," Altman wrote.

Despite these clashes, AI companies have still taken further steps toward greater cooperation.

The heads of OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX AI, Google and Nvidia signed a White House-driven agreement, agreeing to adopt a series of self-regulatory safety measures.

Altman previously said in an interview that although there is no unified group chat among the parties, there are multiple communication channels among the leaders of frontier labs.

"There isn't one big WhatsApp group with everyone in it," Altman said. "But there are plenty of opportunities to interact, like running into each other at the same conference, or having a call, or occasionally meeting."