‘Scam Altman strikes again …’: Elon Musk mocks Sam Altman over Apple trade secret theft allegations
Elon Musk and Sam Altman have shared a heated public rivalry over the years, and Apple's recent lawsuit has only added another chapter to their ongoing feud.
- Jul 13, 2026,
- Updated Jul 13, 2026 10:25 AM IST
On July 10, Apple filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft. As the news went public, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took a direct hit at Sam Altman, fueling the years-long public feud over OpenAI’s evolution over the years.
Musk shared a X post mocking Altman as a scammer; the post read, “Scam Altman strikes again …” In several instances, Musk has addressed Altman as “Scam Altman,” showcasing his continued criticism of the OpenAI chief. Later, Musk shared another X post that said, “He takes scamming to a whole new level.”
Must read: Apple sues OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft: What happened and why it matters
The mockery did not stop there; Musk also shared an image of Altman that says, “I’m doing this because I love it,” In the caption, the SpaceX chief wrote, “By “this” he means scamming.” He further added a comment saying, “He might literally love scamming more than any human alive!”
Elon Musk vs Sam Altman
Back in 2015, Musk and Altman started OpenAI as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research lab. However, later in 2018, Musk left the board, donating tens of millions of dollars to help fund the organisation.
He then argued that OpenAI has moved away from its original nonprofit mission by creating a complex network of for-profit entities and affiliates. He described this structure as "an opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates," implying that it lacked transparency. Musk also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, but he ended up losing. Now, he intends to ask a higher court to review and potentially overturn the verdict.
Must read: OpenAI's new ChatGPT Work could change how you create documents, websites and software
The competition further escalated when Musk started poaching OpenAI engineers for Tesla's Autopilot self-driving technology. He also hired AI researcher Andrej Karpathy from OpenAI to Tesla. He also tried to merge OpenAI and Tesla, although the proposal was not approved by the board.
Now, the feud is still ongoing as OpenAI continues to face legal challenges from Musk.
Altman’s reply to Musk
After a series of mockery on X, Altman ignited the feud, saying, “[H]omeboy you’re the one sellling public market investors on short-term space datacenters.” Musk replied to the post saying, “We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves.”
In another post, Altman talked about its new flagship model, the GPT 5.6 Sol, and said, “[T]here 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.” He further added, “ I am not afraid of Apple, but I have tremendous respect for them. S-tier company.”
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine
On July 10, Apple filed a lawsuit against ChatGPT-maker OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft. As the news went public, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took a direct hit at Sam Altman, fueling the years-long public feud over OpenAI’s evolution over the years.
Musk shared a X post mocking Altman as a scammer; the post read, “Scam Altman strikes again …” In several instances, Musk has addressed Altman as “Scam Altman,” showcasing his continued criticism of the OpenAI chief. Later, Musk shared another X post that said, “He takes scamming to a whole new level.”
Must read: Apple sues OpenAI over alleged trade secret theft: What happened and why it matters
The mockery did not stop there; Musk also shared an image of Altman that says, “I’m doing this because I love it,” In the caption, the SpaceX chief wrote, “By “this” he means scamming.” He further added a comment saying, “He might literally love scamming more than any human alive!”
Elon Musk vs Sam Altman
Back in 2015, Musk and Altman started OpenAI as a nonprofit artificial intelligence research lab. However, later in 2018, Musk left the board, donating tens of millions of dollars to help fund the organisation.
He then argued that OpenAI has moved away from its original nonprofit mission by creating a complex network of for-profit entities and affiliates. He described this structure as "an opaque web of for-profit OpenAI affiliates," implying that it lacked transparency. Musk also filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, but he ended up losing. Now, he intends to ask a higher court to review and potentially overturn the verdict.
Must read: OpenAI's new ChatGPT Work could change how you create documents, websites and software
The competition further escalated when Musk started poaching OpenAI engineers for Tesla's Autopilot self-driving technology. He also hired AI researcher Andrej Karpathy from OpenAI to Tesla. He also tried to merge OpenAI and Tesla, although the proposal was not approved by the board.
Now, the feud is still ongoing as OpenAI continues to face legal challenges from Musk.
Altman’s reply to Musk
After a series of mockery on X, Altman ignited the feud, saying, “[H]omeboy you’re the one sellling public market investors on short-term space datacenters.” Musk replied to the post saying, “We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves.”
In another post, Altman talked about its new flagship model, the GPT 5.6 Sol, and said, “[T]here 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.” He further added, “ I am not afraid of Apple, but I have tremendous respect for them. S-tier company.”
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine