Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Home / Technology / Sam Altman: Elon Musk wanted control of OpenAI eve...
Technology

Sam Altman: Elon Musk wanted control of OpenAI even after death

CN
CitrixNews Staff
·
Sam Altman: Elon Musk wanted control of OpenAI even after death
Sam Altman: Elon Musk wanted control of OpenAI even after deathJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleLily Jamali,North America Technology correspondentandKali Hays,Technology reporterReuters OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the lobby of a federal courthouse in California wearing a navy suit jacket, blue necktie and white dress shirt.ReutersOpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Elon Musk tried to take control of OpenAI and went as far as suggesting the company would be passed onto his children when he died, Sam Altman claimed on Tuesday.

Altman is a co-founder and chief executive of the artificial intelligence (AI) company, which is responsible for ChatGPT. He is being sued by Musk, who accuses him of having "looted a charity" given OpenAI began as a non-profit.

However, appearing before a federal jury in Oakland, California, Altman said Musk not only backed the idea of OpenAI becoming a for-profit business, but planned to take control of it in the long-run.

"A particularly hair-raising moment was when my cofounders asked, 'If you have control, what happens when you die?' He said something like '...maybe it should pass to my children.'"

Elon MuskArtificial intelligence

Originally reported by BBC News