Chisom Umejiaku
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is moving against his former collaborator Elon Musk, stepping into areas that put him in direct competition with Musk’s companies X, Tesla and Neuralink.
Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI in December 2015 as a non-profit focused on developing artificial intelligence safely.
Musk resigned from the board in 2018, citing conflicts with Tesla’s AI work, and relations between the two have since deteriorated.
In March 2023, Musk filed a lawsuit claiming OpenAI abandoned its non-profit purpose in favor of commercial partnerships, particularly with Microsoft.
Their rivalry intensified in August 2025 when Musk offered $97.4 billion to take control of OpenAI and return it to a non-profit structure.
Altman dismissed the bid as unserious and countered by joking about buying X, Musk’s social media platform, for $9.74 billion.
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The competition is sharpest in the brain-computer interface sector. On August 12, 2025, reports confirmed that Altman co-founded Merge Labs, a startup developing less invasive brain implants as an alternative to Musk’s Neuralink.
Merge Labs is raising about $250 million at a valuation of $850 million, with significant support expected from OpenAI’s venture arm. Altman will remain a co-founder but will not handle daily operations.
Neuralink, founded by Musk in 2016, has raised more than $9 billion and began human trials in January 2024. In May 2024, the company said its first patient, a paralyzed man, used a Neuralink implant to control a computer cursor, marking a breakthrough in its technology.
Tesla has not faced a direct move from Altman, but his growing interest in robotics and AI mirrors developments at the carmaker, which is advancing autonomous driving systems and humanoid robots.
Analysts note that the clash between Altman and Musk reflects deeper divides in Silicon Valley over how artificial intelligence should be developed and who should control its future.