OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly criticised the workplace messaging platform Slack for creating "fake work" in tech companies. He said that many companies depend too much on these for communication and create an illusion of being productive.
Microsoft is an early investor in OpenAI, which had put in $1 billion in 2019. That stake is now estimated to be worth roughly $135 billion. On the other hand, Slack, owned by Salesforce Inc., is being seen as a rival to Microsoft Teams.
"Slack has many positives, but it creates endless fake work," Altman said in a recent conversation with Tyler Cowen. "I don't know if Slack is good. I suspect it's not. The threshold to make something better than email is not high, and I think Slack is better than email," he added during the interview on the YouTube channel of Cowen.
Sam Altman says Slack has many positives, but it creates endless fake work
November 9, 2025
We need an AI-native productivity suite to replace docs, slides, email, and Slack
Not add-on features, but trusted agents that handle work and only escalate when needed
This finally feels within reach pic.twitter.com/aEYvokzvrAAltman mentioned that Slack is useful for communication, coordination, and teamwork, but the downside is that constant notifications, threads, and small tasks can overwhelm employees, making them feel busy without actually accomplishing the goal.
AdvertisementHe explained that he hated when the app flooded him with notifications both at the start of the day and at the end of it.
"I dread the first hour of the morning, the last hour before I go to bed, when I'm just dealing with this explosion of Slack, and I think it does create a lot of fake work," he added.
Altman argued that simply adding AI-powered features to existing tools like Google Docs, Slides, or Email is not enough. Instead, he called for a fully AI-native productivity suite built from the ground up, designed to handle routine tasks and let humans focus on meaningful work.
Advertisement"The actual version is like, you are trusting your AI agent and my AI agent to work most stuff out and escalate to us when necessary," he stated.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk quickly took a dig at Altman's statement, warning that OpenAI could become a direct competitor to Microsoft. "At this point, it's insanely suicidal for Microsoft to continue supporting OpenAI," he wrote on social media platform X.
At this point, it's insanely suicidal for Microsoft to continue supporting OpenAI
November 9, 2025In a separate post on X, Musk also commented, “As I was saying, OpenAI will compete directly with Microsoft.”
As I was saying, OpenAI will compete directly with Microsoft
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