OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is embroiled in a legal battle with his rival Elon Musk, said he was “not that concerned” about Musk’s influence on the new Trump administration

NEW YORK – OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is in a legal battle with his rival Elon Musk, said he was “not that concerned” about Musk’s influence on the new Trump administration.

Altman told a New York Times conference on Wednesday that he “could be proven wrong,” but he firmly believes Musk will do the right thing.

“It would be profoundly un-American to use political power on the scale that Elon has to harm your competitors and benefit your own companies,” Altman said. “And I don’t think people would tolerate that. I don’t think Elon would do it.”

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year, saying the maker of ChatGPT had betrayed its founding goals of serving the public good rather than pursuing profits. Musk recently escalated the lawsuit by asking a federal judge to halt OpenAI’s plans to more fully transform itself into a for-profit company.

Musk has also founded his own rival AI company xAI, which Altman sees as a serious competitor.

President-elect Donald Trump is tapping Musk, the world’s richest man, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an outside advisory board that will work with people within the government , to reduce expenses and regulations.