<p><strong>OpenAI</strong> co-founder <strong>Sam Altman </strong>has slammed <strong>Elon Musk </strong>and <strong>Tesla Inc.</strong> (NASDAQ:TSLA) over the company's Autopilot-related fatalities as the feud heats up between the pair.</p>



<h2>Sam Altman Slams Musk’s Criticism</h2>



<p>The OpenAI CEO quoted a post by Musk on the social media platform X on Tuesday. Musk, in his post, warned people against using the company's AI model ChatGPT, quoting a post that claimed the model was responsible for multiple deaths.</p>



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<blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Don't let your loved ones use ChatGPT https://t.co/730gz9XTJ2</p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2026</blockquote>
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<p>Altman lamented Musk's changing complaints with ChatGPT, with Musk sharing that the model was &#34;too restrictive,&#34; while calling it &#34;too relaxed&#34; on other occasions. The CEO acknowledged the claims about the model leading to deaths and shared that the company was working to address the concerns.</p>



<p>However, Altman then shared that the situations were &#34;complicated&#34; and people should be respectful towards them. &#34;We need to protect vulnerable users,&#34; the CEO shared, adding that OpenAI must ensure &#34;our guardrails still allow all of our users to benefit from our tools.&#34;</p>



<h2>Autopilot Crashes</h2>



<p>Altman then slammed Tesla's Autopilot crashes, for which the automaker has been sued on multiple occasions. &#34;Apparently more than 50 people have died from crashes related to Autopilot,&#34; Altman said, adding that he had ridden in a car running the system on one occasion, which was &#34;far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released,&#34; he said. NHTSA has also launched a probe into the technology.</p>



<p>The OpenAI CEO then concluded by slamming Musk-backed company <strong>xAI</strong>'s model Grok, which was recently in the spotlight after authorities slammed the model for generating non-consensual explicit images. &#34;You take ‘every accusation is a confession' so far,&#34; Altman said.</p>



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<blockquote><p lang="en" dir="ltr">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</p>— Sam Altman (@sama) January 20, 2026</blockquote>
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<h2>Elon Musk vs Sam Altman</h2>



<p>The news comes as the pair have been locking horns as a court judge scheduled the trial to begin April 27 in Musk’s lawsuit against Altman and other defendants, including <strong>Microsoft Corp.</strong> (NASDAQ:MSFT).</p>



<p>In the lawsuit, Musk has alleged that OpenAI abandoned its founding nonprofit, goal and claims that the company misled him while transforming the organization into a for-profit enterprise.</p>



<p><em>Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by</em> following this link.</p>



<p><em>Photo courtesy: jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock</em></p>

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<p>Sam Altman criticized Elon Musk and Tesla over Autopilot-related fatalities amid their ongoing feud. Altman highlighted that over 50 deaths have occurred due to Autopilot crashes, calling it unsafe. He also addressed Musk's fluctuating criticisms of OpenAI's ChatGPT, emphasizing the need for responsible AI use. The feud intensifies as Musk's lawsuit against Altman and others is set for trial on April 27, alleging that OpenAI misled him during its transition to a for-profit model.</p>

- Sam Altman criticized Elon Musk over Tesla's Autopilot fatalities, citing over 50 deaths while defending OpenAI's AI model, ChatGPT, against Musk's claims.  
- Altman highlighted the complexity of AI's impact, emphasizing the need for responsible use and protection of vulnerable users amid Musk's varying critiques of ChatGPT.  
- The ongoing feud is intensified by Musk's lawsuit against Altman, accusing OpenAI of abandoning its nonprofit origins while transforming into a for-profit entity.

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Sam Altman Slams Elon Musk, Tesla Over Autopilot Crash Deaths, Questions Self-Driving Safety As Feud Heats Up: 'Far From A Safe Thing…'