- Sam Altman and Elon Musk exchanged sharp remarks over safety and deaths linked to their AI products
- Musk warned against ChatGPT citing alleged suicides, while Altman criticized Tesla's Autopilot safety
- Eight wrongful-death lawsuits target OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT worsened mental health and led to deaths
Sam Altman and Elon Musk escalated their long-running feud on Tuesday, Jan. 20, trading pointed remarks on X over deaths and safety issues related to each other's products.
The exchange began when Musk shared a post alleging a link between ChatGPT and several deaths by suicide. While sharing the post, Musk wrote, “Don't let your loved ones use ChatGPT.” The post shared by Musk alleged that OpenAI's chatbot had been linked to nine deaths, stating that “in 5 cases its interactions are alleged to have led to death by suicide, including teens and adults.”
Don't let your loved ones use ChatGPT https://t.co/730gz9XTJ2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2026
Musk's comment prompted a response from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who described the situation as “tragic” and “complicated,” while also criticising Musk's products, including Grok and Tesla's Autopilot feature.
“It is genuinely hard; we need to protect vulnerable users, while also making sure our guardrails still allow all of our users to benefit from our tools,” Altman wrote.
Altman then turned his attention to Tesla's autopilot feature.
“Apparently, more than 50 people have died from crashes related to Autopilot. I only ever rode in a car, using it once, some time ago, but my first thought was that it was far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released,” he said, adding, “I won't even start on some of the Grok decisions.” Musk's AI tool Grok has faced criticism for generating nonconsensual sexual imagery.
Altman added, “You take ‘every accusation is a confession' so far.”
Sometimes you complain about ChatGPT being too restrictive, and then in cases like this you claim it's too relaxed. Almost a billion people use it and some of them may be in very fragile mental states. We will continue to do our best to get this right and we feel huge… https://t.co/U6r03nsHzg
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 20, 2026
Legal Scrutiny And Death Claims
According to Business Insider, there have been at least eight wrongful-death lawsuits filed against OpenAI, alleging that the use of ChatGPT contributed to worsening mental health conditions. These cases reportedly involve instances of suicide and murder, including among children and young adults.
Tesla's self-driving technology has also been at the centre of multiple wrongful-death lawsuits. One such case involved a 2019 crash in Florida that killed a 22-year-old woman. A jury found Tesla 33% liable for the crash and awarded plaintiffs a total of $329 million in damages, Business Insider reported earlier.
Roots Of A Long-Running Rivalry
The public sparring reflects a deeper rift between Musk and Altman that dates back to the early days of OpenAI. The pair co-founded the organisation in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab focused on developing artificial intelligence for the public good. Musk left OpenAI's board in 2018 and later criticised its shift towards a for-profit structure and its close partnership with Microsoft.
Since then, Musk has repeatedly accused Altman of abandoning OpenAI's original mission, while Altman has defended the company's evolution as necessary to fund advanced AI research, according to Forbes.
The two are also locked in an ongoing legal battle over OpenAI's nonprofit status. Musk has sued Altman and other OpenAI leaders, alleging he was misled when the organisation decided to pursue a for-profit structure, moving away from its original mission. According to Business Insider, Musk has said he donated $38 million to OpenAI when it was founded as a nonprofit.
Also Read: 'We Know It Is Dumb': Elon Musk Criticises X Algorithm After Open-Sourcing It
Watch LIVE TV, Get Stock Market Updates, Top Business, IPO and Latest News on NDTV Profit.
