'Scammer' vs. 'pop-up huckster': Musk and Altman trade barbs as fans say 'just fight already'

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, publicly attacked OpenAI chief Sam Altman after Apple sued the ChatGPT maker over allegations of trade secret theft.

Their ongoing mud-slinging has prompted users to urge the two to "just settle it in a fight," with some generating memes depicting the pair in a martial arts bout.

On Saturday on X, formerly Twitter, Musk shared a report about OpenAI being sued over allegations that it obtained Apple's confidential information through a former employee. "They put in a lot of effort to commit this crime," he wrote.

He mocked Altman as "Scam Altman," saying he "has taken scamming to a whole new level." Musk then posted a clip of Altman saying "I do this because I love it," adding that "'this' means scamming" and calling him "literally the person who loves scamming more than anyone."

The original remark came from Altman's testimony before the US Senate in May 2023, when he said he served as OpenAI's CEO without a salary or equity stake. Musk repurposed the clip as fodder for his attack.

Altman fired back, dismissively calling Musk "homeboy" and accusing him of "selling public market investors a pop-up shop in the sky called a space data center."

The jab appeared aimed at Musk's push to boost SpaceX's valuation through plans to build orbital data centers via SpaceX and its AI subsidiary SpaceXAI. Altman has previously questioned the feasibility of the space data center concept.

The two co-founded OpenAI and were once close, but have since clashed over the direction of the company.

Musk filed a lawsuit alleging that Altman deceived him by breaking a promise to keep OpenAI as a nonprofit and converting it into a for-profit entity. A court recently dismissed his claims, ruling that he had missed the statute of limitations.