Elon Musk has launched a blistering attack on OpenAI boss Sam Altman on X, mocking him as a 'scammer' and even joking about a parole officer, after Apple filed a major trade secrets lawsuit against Altman's company in California.
The news came after Apple brought a civil case against OpenAI in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, accusing the ChatGPT maker and former Apple staff of misappropriating confidential information about unreleased products and hardware projects.
Court records allege that ex-Apple employees now at OpenAI took proprietary data and used internal code names, designs and technical documents to 'jumpstart' OpenAI's own hardware ambitions, a claim Apple says breaches its intellectual property agreements.
For context, Apple is asking the court to bar OpenAI from using its alleged trade secrets and to force the company to return any confidential material linked to the case.
By “this” he means scamming 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/yQ5wryw1Ai
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2026
Elon Musk Uses X to Call Out Sam Altman
Once the lawsuit hit the headlines, Elon Musk used X as his preferred stage, replying to a post about Apple's complaint with the put-down: 'Scam Altman strikes again...' He did not stop there, embarking on a posting spree that repeatedly framed the OpenAI chief as a 'scammer,' amplifying supportive replies from users and claiming Altman had 'taken scamming to a whole new level.'
He takes scamming to a whole new level https://t.co/o6TMllhIMu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2026
In another post, Musk told his followers that Altman 'might literally love scamming more than any human alive,' leaning into the personal nature of their long-running feud.
He might literally love scamming more than any human alive!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2026
The Tesla and SpaceX boss has a history of attacking rival AI companies and regulators online, but this burst of activity stood out even by his own standards, mixing serious allegations with the sort of performative outrage that plays well on X's algorithm.
Altman did eventually bite. In one reply, he fired back at Musk with: 'Homeboy, you're the one selling public market investors on short-term space datacenters.' The jab appeared to reference Musk's plans for orbital data centres and satellite-linked computing infrastructure, a pitch that Altman clearly views with some scepticism.
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.
Musk responded by doubling down, insisting 'We start flying them next year' and inviting Altman to visit the project, adding: 'Maybe you can come see them if your parole officer approves.'
There is no suggestion Altman is under any form of criminal supervision, and the remark was framed as a joke, but it underlined how quickly a corporate legal dispute had morphed into personal character attacks between two of Silicon Valley's most visible figures.
Elon Musk Feud Deepens as Altman Says He Is 'Obsessed'
Altman followed up the back-and-forth with a lone post, saying there were 'a lot of benchmarks that suggest 5.6 sol is the best model in the world right now.' He then added that 'the most reliable way to tell is that [E]lon is obsessed with me again.'
i'd love to see interesting things people have built with 5.6 sol.
— Sam Altman (@sama) July 12, 2026
i will send the person who made the coolest thing a special gift from the openai archives.
The remark neatly rolled together technical bragging about OpenAI's model performance with an attempt to shrug off Musk's attacks as more about rivalry than legal substance. Altman later tried to steer the conversation back to the core dispute, telling reporters that he has 'tremendous respect' for Apple, a company where some current OpenAI executives previously worked.
Asked about the lawsuit, an OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC: 'We have no interest in other companies' trade secrets,' echoing a public statement in which the firm insists it remains focused on building new technology rather than raiding competitors' confidential projects.
IBTimes UK could not independently verify the detailed allegations made in Apple's filing or the claims flying around X, so take everything lightly.
Apple's complaint paints a picture of what it calls 'pervasive' trade secret theft, accusing former employees Tang Tan and Chang Liu of taking confidential engineering documents, unreleased product information and even an Apple-issued laptop loaded with technical files, all to benefit OpenAI's own hardware push.
so far at least, i'm pretty sure AI has been net job-creating.
— Sam Altman (@sama) July 11, 2026
this was not what i expected--although i was much less pessimistic than others, i thought by this level of capability we'd have seen some impact.
it is possible this direction keeps going!
Apple argues this amounts to a coordinated strategy and wants damages, as well as injunctions that would prevent OpenAI from using any of the disputed material.
Officially, the legal fight is between Apple, OpenAI and the two named former staff, and it will be for the court to decide whether those accusations stand up to scrutiny. Unofficially, however, Musk has seized on the lawsuit as fresh ammunition in his wider war against Altman and the company he once helped to found, before walking away and launching his own xAI venture.
It can be recalled that Musk repeatedly criticised OpenAI's direction since his departure, accusing the firm of drifting from its original non-profit mission and becoming, in his view, too closely tied to big corporate interests. His decision to brand Altman 'Scam Altman' in the middle of a high-stakes court case fits that pattern, even if it skirts the edge between commentary and unverified allegation.
Apple's suit is one of the clearest examples yet of how the AI arms race is colliding with traditional tech giants' obsession with secrecy over upcoming products.
Hardware and AI are converging, and when engineers move between companies carrying intimate knowledge of design choices, suppliers and manufacturing techniques, it is hardly surprising that lawyers step in to define where experience ends and theft begins.
The human sub-plot, though, is that two men who helped shape the modern AI boom are now trading insults about parole officers and 'obsession' in full public view, while a separate legal machine slowly grinds through its paperwork in San Francisco.
Whether Musk's online barrage has any real impact on the case is questionable, but it has certainly reframed a dense trade secrets dispute as the latest mad episode in Silicon Valley's long-running drama over power, ego and who is really building the future.
