Elon Musk has a 'conspiracy theory' on why Sam Altman didn't equity stake in OpenAI after deal with Microsoft

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has one again started his long-running feud with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, suggesting a ‘conspiracy theory’ behind Altman’s decision of not taking any equity stake in the company even after its multibillion dollar partnership with Microsoft. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Musk wrote, “The ‘no equity’ thing is a conspiracy theory magnet. If it’s not about money, then what is it about? Power? Influence? Something else?”

“Altman took a piece of almost every successful company that wanted a relationship with OpenAI (YC Combinator playbook). His stakes in those companies are worth tens of billions. Moreover, he is just waiting for my lawsuit against OpenAI to be over to receive the same $30B or so in stock that Brockman was given,” added Musk.


The comment from Musk came in response to Altman’s own post shared earlier this week on X. In the post, Altman reflected on his decision to forgo equity stake in ChatGPT creator OpenAI. “Wish I had taken equity a long time ago,” Altman wrote. “I think it would have led to far fewer conspiracy theories… People seem very able to understand ‘ok that dude is doing it because he wants more money’ but less so ‘he just thinks technology is cool.’”

Along with this, Altman also acknowledged the fact that his stance may have been “tone-deaf,” especially in light of OpenAI’s transformation into a public benefit corporation and its lucrative deal with Microsoft, which now holds a reported 27% stake in the company’s for-profit arm.

Elon Musk vs. Sam Altman: A long-running rift

For the uninitiated, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, but left the board in 2018. Musk has criticised the company’s shift from open-source ideals to a closed, profit-driven model. Along with this, Musk also accused Altman of steering OpenAI away from its original mission. Musk also went ahead and launched his own AI venture — xAI.

Earlier this year, Musk made headlines with a $97 billion bid to acquire OpenAI’s nonprofit arm—a move Altman publicly mocked