Elon Musk and Sam Altman Clash Over Apple Lawsuit and AI Rivalry

Apple filed a lawsuit in a California federal court accusing OpenAI of stealing trade‑secret hardware information. The filing triggered a fresh wave of public attacks between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on the social platform X.

Musk revived his long‑standing nickname for Altman, writing “Scam Altman strikes again…”, and added that Altman “takes scamming to a whole new level” and “might literally love scamming more than any human alive”. Altman responded by mocking Musk’s SpaceX plan to launch data centres in orbit, writing “Homeboy you’re the one selling public‑market investors on short‑term space datacenters”. Musk replied that the first centres would fly next year and joked about Altman’s parole officer.

Both executives are promoting rival AI models—Musk’s xAI released Grok 4.5, while OpenAI unveiled GPT‑5.6 Sol—while preparing major market moves. SpaceX recently completed a record‑breaking $75 billion IPO, and OpenAI has filed confidentially for its own listing. Earlier legal battles saw Musk’s 2024 lawsuit against OpenAI dismissed and a jury rule in favor of Altman.

The feud, amplified by the Apple lawsuit, highlights intense competition for AI leadership, investor confidence, and control of emerging technologies.