Musk and Altman's AI Feud: Manipulation Claims and Grok's Take
The long-simmering animosity between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk boiled over publicly once again this week, as the two tech titans engaged in a contentious exchange over who was more dishonest. Once business partners and friends, their relationship famously soured years ago, leading to a very public rivalry marked by frequent critiques of each other’s ventures.
The latest skirmish was initiated by Musk, who took to social media to allege a corporate conspiracy. He claimed Apple was deliberately hindering the success of rival AI applications, such as his own Grok, by relentlessly promoting OpenAI on its App Store. “Apple is the gateway to the Internet for half of America,” Musk posted, asserting that the iPhone maker was “making it impossible for any other AI company to succeed.” However, this claim was quickly challenged by observers and community notes appended to his post, which highlighted that other AI applications like DeepSeek and Perplexity had successfully climbed to the top of the App Store charts earlier this year, contradicting Musk’s assertion of an OpenAI bias.
Not long after, Altman entered the fray, directly challenging Musk’s integrity. “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like,” Altman stated. Musk retorted with a dismissive, almost juvenile tone, pointing out the disproportionate reach of Altman’s post despite his own significantly larger follower count: “You got 3M views on your bullshit post, you liar, far more than I’ve received on many of mine, despite me having 50 times your follower count!”
Altman escalated the challenge, proposing an affidavit: “Will you sign an affidavit that you have never directed changes to the X algorithm in a way that has hurt your competitors or helped your own companies? i will apologize if so.” In a moment of digital irony, an X user then posed the question to Grok, Musk’s own AI chatbot, which appeared to side with Altman. Grok’s response, citing “verified evidence,” stated that Musk’s Apple antitrust claim was undermined by the success of other AI apps. Furthermore, Grok noted Musk’s “history of directing X algorithm changes to boost his posts and favor his interests, per 2023 reports and ongoing probes,” concluding, “Hypocrisy noted.” OpenAI’s ChatGPT account subsequently amplified Grok’s assessment with a simple “good bot.”
Musk promptly attempted to explain away Grok’s unflattering assessment, attributing it to the chatbot giving “way too much credibility to legacy media sources.” He asserted that the platform’s integrity was demonstrated by Grok’s ability to make “false defamatory statements” about him without being blocked, hinting at further adjustments to his chatbot’s programming to “fix” its information sourcing. Later, Musk posted a screenshot purporting to show ChatGPT endorsing his trustworthiness over Altman’s.
Accusations of algorithmic manipulation on X are not new for Musk. A study published last year reportedly presented evidence that content aligned with conservative views was being algorithmically amplified on the platform. Altman, too, shared an article on Tuesday claiming Musk had “created a special system [on X] for showing you all his tweets first.” Altman expressed a desire for a “counter-discovery” process to uncover evidence of these alleged manipulations, while reaffirming OpenAI’s focus on product development. Musk’s final jab in this public exchange came when he re-shared a post highlighting allegations against Altman, adding, “Scam Altman lies as easily as he breathes.”
In the broader context of the burgeoning AI industry, OpenAI, under Altman’s leadership, largely maintains its dominant position, despite some recent products like GPT-5 being met with significant disappointment and the generative AI sector becoming increasingly competitive. Conversely, Musk’s xAI has gained notoriety primarily through the distinctive, often unconventional, persona of its chatbot, Grok. While xAI is expanding and rapidly investing in its own infrastructure, it is reportedly consuming capital at a high rate. Despite the vast resources commanded by both men and their companies, the recent public spat underscored an ironic truth: even their advanced AI creations could not definitively determine who was more trustworthy.