Elon Musk and Sam Altman traded fiery accusations on X on Sunday, reigniting their long-running feud over AI safety, space data centers and alleged trade-secret theft.
Feud Reignites Over Data Center Claims
Responding to a post from an X user, Musk, the CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ:SPCX), accused OpenAI CEO Altman of taking “scamming to a whole new level.”
He takes scamming to a whole new level https://t.co/o6TMllhIMu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2026
The comment echoed a post Musk made in April, when he called Altman “Scam Altman” after a New Yorker investigation questioned Altman’s credibility on AI safety.
Altman responded by accusing Musk of trying to sell public investors on the idea of short-term space data centers. The jab wasn’t new. He had made a similar criticism in May on the TBPN podcast, where he questioned whether the project was practical and suggested that data centers built underwater could be easier to construct and cool than those placed in space.
The Charity Suit Resurfaces
Altman’s accusation drew response from Musk, who wrote, “We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves.” The remark appeared to reference Musk’s own $150 billion lawsuit, in which he accused Altman of taking control of OpenAI away from its nonprofit mission. A jury dismissed the case in May because it was filed after the legal deadline, not because it ruled on the merits of the claims. Musk is appealing the decision.
We start flying them next year. Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2026
After stealing an open source AI charity, you then stole all of Apple’s phone technology! Wow.
What do you plan for an encore? That’s tough to beat.
In his X post, Musk also accused Altman of taking over an open-source AI charity and stealing Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) phone technology.
The remark came days after Apple sued OpenAI, alleging the company used job interviews and former employees to obtain hardware trade secrets related to its consumer device plans.
Benzinga’s Take: The exchange between two of the tech industry’s most closely watched figures highlights the growing competition in AI and space infrastructure as both companies pursue next-generation computing capabilities.
Photo courtesy: Photo Agency/Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
