Sam Altman Calls Elon Musk a Bully Who Only Respects Opponents Who Fight Back

In an interview with Vanity Fair, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described Elon Musk as a "bully" who only respects those who push back, while expressing a willingness to cooperate with him on AI safety despite their ongoing feud. The friction between Altman and Musk highlights how personal rivalries are shaping the AI landscape, even as top executives face mounting pressure to collaborate on industry-wide safety standards. Despite personal clashes—including Musk calling Altman "Scam Altman" and Altman questioning Musk's orbital data center pitches—executives from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, and xAI have agreed to voluntary White House AI safety guidelines.