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OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has responded publicly to renewed criticism from Elon Musk, after Musk shared a post on X linking ChatGPT to nine deaths and warned people not to let their “loved ones” use the chatbot.
The exchange began when Musk reacted to a claim by a crypto-focused influencer account, DogeDesigner, which alleged that “ChatGPT has now been linked to 9 deaths tied to its use,” including five cases where interactions were said to have contributed to suicide among teens and adults. CNBC-TV18 couldn't independently verify the figures cited in the post.
Musk amplified the claim with a brief message on X, saying, “Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT.” The post drew widespread attention and triggered a response from Altman within hours.
In his reply, Altman accused Musk of applying contradictory standards to ChatGPT. “Sometimes you complain about ChatGPT being too restrictive, and then in cases like this you claim it’s too relaxed,” he wrote, pointing to what he described as inconsistent criticism of the system’s safeguards.
Altman said the scale of ChatGPT’s use makes safety decisions complex. “Almost a billion people use it and some of them may be in very fragile mental states,” he wrote. “We will continue to do our best to get this right and we feel huge responsibility to do the best we can, but these are tragic and complicated situations that deserve to be treated with respect.”
He added that OpenAI faces a constant trade-off between protection and access. “It is genuinely hard; we need to protect vulnerable users, while also making sure our guardrails still allow all of our users to benefit from our tools,” Altman said.
Altman then shifted his criticism toward Musk’s own companies, citing safety controversies linked to Tesla’s driver-assistance technology. Referring to reports of fatalities associated with Autopilot, he wrote, “Apparently more than 50 people have died from crashes related to Autopilot.” He added that the only time he had ridden in a car using the system, his immediate reaction was that it felt “far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released.”
He also referenced Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, and its chatbot Grok, saying, “I won’t even start on some of the Grok decisions.” Altman closed his remarks with a pointed line directed at Musk: “You take ‘every accusation is a confession’ so far.”
The public exchange marks another escalation in the increasingly open dispute between the two former collaborators, who were both involved in the early days of OpenAI.
The clash comes as Musk presses ahead with a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and marginalising him despite his early financial and strategic involvement.
Musk has stated that OpenAI shifted toward a profit-driven model, contrary to its founding commitments. As part of the legal action, Musk is seeking damages reported to range from $79 billion to $134 billion from OpenAI and its largest backer, Microsoft, further deepening the rift between the parties.
The exchange began when Musk reacted to a claim by a crypto-focused influencer account, DogeDesigner, which alleged that “ChatGPT has now been linked to 9 deaths tied to its use,” including five cases where interactions were said to have contributed to suicide among teens and adults. CNBC-TV18 couldn't independently verify the figures cited in the post.
Musk amplified the claim with a brief message on X, saying, “Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT.” The post drew widespread attention and triggered a response from Altman within hours.
Sometimes you complain about ChatGPT being too restrictive, and then in cases like this you claim it's too relaxed. Almost a billion people use it and some
of them may be in very fragile mental states. We will continue to do our best to get this right and we feel huge… https://t.co/U6r03nsHzg
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 20, 2026
In his reply, Altman accused Musk of applying contradictory standards to ChatGPT. “Sometimes you complain about ChatGPT being too restrictive, and then in cases like this you claim it’s too relaxed,” he wrote, pointing to what he described as inconsistent criticism of the system’s safeguards.
Altman said the scale of ChatGPT’s use makes safety decisions complex. “Almost a billion people use it and some of them may be in very fragile mental states,” he wrote. “We will continue to do our best to get this right and we feel huge responsibility to do the best we can, but these are tragic and complicated situations that deserve to be treated with respect.”
He added that OpenAI faces a constant trade-off between protection and access. “It is genuinely hard; we need to protect vulnerable users, while also making sure our guardrails still allow all of our users to benefit from our tools,” Altman said.
Altman then shifted his criticism toward Musk’s own companies, citing safety controversies linked to Tesla’s driver-assistance technology. Referring to reports of fatalities associated with Autopilot, he wrote, “Apparently more than 50 people have died from crashes related to Autopilot.” He added that the only time he had ridden in a car using the system, his immediate reaction was that it felt “far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released.”
He also referenced Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, and its chatbot Grok, saying, “I won’t even start on some of the Grok decisions.” Altman closed his remarks with a pointed line directed at Musk: “You take ‘every accusation is a confession’ so far.”
The public exchange marks another escalation in the increasingly open dispute between the two former collaborators, who were both involved in the early days of OpenAI.
The clash comes as Musk presses ahead with a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the company of abandoning its original nonprofit mission and marginalising him despite his early financial and strategic involvement.
Musk has stated that OpenAI shifted toward a profit-driven model, contrary to its founding commitments. As part of the legal action, Musk is seeking damages reported to range from $79 billion to $134 billion from OpenAI and its largest backer, Microsoft, further deepening the rift between the parties.
