Musk bashed out at ChatGPT referring to the death cases tied to the AI chatbot. Musk stated that, “ Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT,” in a recent post on X to which OpenAI CEO bashed out on Musk
Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT https://t.co/730gz9XTJ2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2026
His comments come as two lawsuits accuse ChatGPT of harming vulnerable people. The lawsuit claims the chatbot did not react properly when help was needed.
These cases have increased public concern and legal pressure, raising serious questions about responsibility and safety in artificial intelligence.
How did the banter start?
The banter started with Musk’s tweet about ChatGPT while reacting to a claim from crypto-focused influencer account DogeDesigner.
A few minutes after the tweet, Sam Altman lashed out at Musk mentioning Tesla Autopilot-related deaths and the controversy involving the creation of nonconsensual sexual imagery by Grok AI.
“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 responsibility to do the best we can, but these are tragic and complicated situations that deserve to be treated with respect,” Sam Atlman tweeted.
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
Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
The clash between the two tech leaders came amid Musk’s escalated lawsuit against OpenAI. The xAI founder and CEO accused OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit mission. He also alleged that the tech company sidelined him despite his early involvement.
His comments came after details from a lawsuit in the United States claimed that a man was influenced by long conversations with the chatbot before killing his mother and then himself. Musk further said that AI must focus on truth and must never support false or dangerous beliefs.
The case involves a 56-year-old man named Stein Erik Soelberg and his 83-year-old mother, Suzanne Eberson.
The world’s richest man now wants OpenAI and its largest backer, Microsoft, to pay him damages in the range of $79 billion to $134 billion.
