Musk and Altman renew OpenAI feud after Apple trade-secrets suit
The exchange on X followed Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI and came as SpaceX and OpenAI promoted rival AI model releases.
By Amanda Ross · Deals Correspondent
· 3 min read
Elon Musk and Sam Altman renewed their public dispute on X after Apple filed a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of stealing trade secrets, adding another flashpoint to a rivalry that now spans AI models, litigation and public-market ambitions. The exchange came weeks after SpaceX raised $75 billion in an initial public offering and as OpenAI, according to CNBC, has filed confidentially for its own listing.
Apple filed suit against OpenAI on Friday over alleged trade secret theft, CNBC reported. OpenAI rejected any suggestion that it wanted proprietary information from rivals, with a spokesperson telling CNBC on Friday: “We have no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”
Musk, who leads Tesla and SpaceX and owns the X social platform through SpaceX, responded to a post about Apple’s lawsuit by reviving a derisive nickname for Altman. In a series of X posts, Musk accused the OpenAI chief of “scamming” and shared an image of Altman with added commentary.
Altman answered by pointing to SpaceX’s pitch to investors. “homeboy you’re the one sellling public market investors on short-term space datacenters,” Altman wrote on X in a post that drew more than 11 million views. Musk replied that SpaceX would begin flying them next year and added a personal jab about a parole officer.
A long-running dispute over OpenAI
Musk and Altman were among the group that founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research lab. Musk left OpenAI’s board in 2018 after donating tens of millions of dollars to the organization, according to CNBC.
Musk later sued Altman and OpenAI, arguing that Altman had misled him while building a network of for-profit OpenAI entities. That case went to trial in California this year. A jury ruled for Altman, and Musk said he would appeal, CNBC reported.
The renewed clash also followed competing product launches. SpaceX released Grok 4.5 through xAI, its OpenAI rival, while OpenAI introduced GPT-5.6 Sol. Musk and Altman had promoted their respective systems for several days before the exchanges turned personal on Saturday.
Altman framed Musk’s renewed attention as a reaction to OpenAI’s model release. “there are a lot of benchmarks that suggest 5.6 sol is the best model in the world right now, but the most reliable way to tell is that elon is obsessed with me again,” Altman wrote on X.
Apple claim draws wider reaction
Altman also responded to an X account that said he was afraid of Apple. “i am not afraid of apple, but i have tremendous respect for them. s-tier company,” he wrote.
Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, replied to Altman’s Apple comment by referring to the iPhone maker’s trade secrets. Musk answered Bier’s post with a laughing emoji.
The dispute places several large technology and capital-market stories in the same frame: Apple’s legal claim, OpenAI’s attempted rebuttal, SpaceX’s newly public equity story and the race among AI labs to establish benchmark leadership. The facts of Apple’s allegations will be tested through the legal process, while Musk and Altman continue to use X as a venue for their broader fight over OpenAI’s direction and commercial future.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
