Elon Musk explodes: Calls OpenAI CEO 'Scam' Altman for 'looting' a charity for billions
Billionaire accuses Altman of getting side deals 'with a piece of action for himself'
Elon Musk unleashed a blistering attack on billionaire OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, branding him a "scam" artist who "looted" a non-profit charity he helped fund, escalating their long-simmering feud into federal court.
This stems from escalating tensions between Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman.
Musk escalated his April 26, 2026, Musk aggressively escalated his legal battle against Altman, mocking the latter as a "scam artist" and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman as "Stockman" on X, accusing them of ditching the 2015 nonprofit mission for profit.
Musk, who co-founded the firm, alleges it betrayed its original non-profit, open-source mission for-profit, demanding ~$150B to be returned to a charitable trust.
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On April 26, 2026, Musk sued OpenAI (and Altman) in San Francisco federal court, accusing them of betraying their nonprofit roots.
Musk claims OpenAI was founded as a charity in 2015 — with his $44 million donation — to develop safe AGI for humanity, but Altman "looted" it by shifting to a for-profit model, pocketing billions via Microsoft investments (now valued at $157B+).
Altman fired back on X, calling Musk's claims "incoherent" and a "frivolous attack."
The lawsuit revives their 2018 fallout, when Musk quit OpenAI's board over direction disputes.
In March 2024, Musk sued Altman, among others, accusing them of breaching contractual agreements made when he helped found the ChatGPT-maker in 2015, according to a lawsuit filed on Thursday in San Francisco.
In June that same year, he dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman for betraying the startup's founding mission.
In a California court, Musk had accused the AI firm he helped set up in 2015 of breaching a commitment to creating artificial intelligence that benefits society when it became a for-profit enterprise backed by Microsoft.
Musk then asked the court to dismiss the entire case, without offering a reason.
New lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed Friday in San Francisco federal court, the Tesla and SpaceX chief accused Altman and OpenAI of betraying their 2015 founding mission as an open-source nonprofit dedicated to safe artificial general intelligence (AGI) for humanity.
Musk, who donated $44 million, claims the group pivoted to a closed-source for-profit model in 2019, securing billions from Microsoft — now valuing OpenAI at over $157 billion — while sidelining public benefit.
"Scam Altman and Greg Stockman stole a charity. Full stop," Musk posted on X on April 28, attaching the 120-page complaint alleging breach of contract and fraud.
The suit seeks to force OpenAI back to its nonprofit roots and block its corporate restructuring.
Altman responds: 'Incoherent', 'frivolous'
Altman dismissed the claims as "incoherent" and "frivolous" in an X response, noting Musk quit the board in 2018 over disagreements and launched rival xAI.
"We've been transparent," Altman wrote.
The rift traces to 2018 board tensions, revived by OpenAI's explosive growth via ChatGPT.
Legal experts say Musk faces hurdles proving "looting," but the case spotlights AI governance debates amid rapid industry consolidation.
OpenAI, now a capped-profit entity, defends its shift as necessary for scaling AGI safely.
A hearing is set for May 15.
