Elon Musk took a jab at his counterpart Sam Altman after the OpenAI leader extended congratulations to Donald Trump’s newly appointed “White House A.I. and Crypto Czar,” David Sacks.
The selection of Musk’s associate and fellow tech innovator serves as a testament to the Tesla founder’s sway within the incoming administration of the president-elect.
David Sacks, a venture capitalist and podcaster who collaborated with Musk at PayPal, had supported Trump during the campaign, organizing a lucrative fundraiser and publicly endorsing him on his All In podcast.
He has also invested in multiple ventures led by Musk, including SpaceX, X (previously Twitter), and xAI, which directly competes with Altman’s OpenAI.
Following Trump’s announcement about Sacks’ new position, Altman took to X, stating: “congrats to czar @DavidSacks!”
Musk replied by playfully ribbing the OpenAI CEO with a laughing emoji.
This social media exchange occurred after Altman remarked on Wednesday that it would be “deeply un-American” for Musk to leverage his newfound political clout to “harm competitors” and “favor (his) own enterprises.”
“I don’t believe the public would accept that,” Altman stated during an interview at the The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
Musk, alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, is leading DOGE, an advisory body aimed at streamlining federal agencies. Additionally, he has initiated legal proceedings against Altman’s OpenAI, alleging it has strayed from its original mission as a non-profit, open-source entity in favor of profit maximization.
In May, Sacks unveiled his own AI chat service, Glue, yet he asserts that there is no conflict of interest stemming from his new responsibilities.
“The [czar] role is advisory and holds the same government classification as [DOGE], which doesn’t necessitate David stepping away from Craft,” Sacks’ venture capital firm, Craft Ventures, informed the Financial Times.
Trump shared the appointment on his Truth Social account, writing: “David possesses the expertise, business acumen, intelligence, and practical approach to MAKE AMERICA GREAT in these two vital sectors.”
“He will craft a legal framework to provide clarity for the Crypto industry so it can prosper in the US.”
