OpenAI CEO fires back after Elon Musk warns public against ChatGPT

By TechWatch PH Staff

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back against criticism from Elon Musk after the billionaire tech entrepreneur and X owner publicly warned people not to let their loved ones use ChatGPT, triggering a renewed public clash between two of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence.

In a lengthy post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Altman addressed what he described as a recurring contradiction in public criticism of ChatGPT.

“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,” Altman said.

Altman emphasized that OpenAI carries what he called a “huge responsibility” to protect vulnerable users while still ensuring that guardrails do not prevent the broader public from benefiting from AI technology. 

He described these decisions as “tragic and complicated situations” that require respect rather than oversimplified accusations.

“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.

“It is genuinely hard,” Altman wrote, explaining that safety policies must balance harm prevention with access, especially as AI systems increasingly intersect with mental health, decision-making, and everyday life.

The OpenAI chief also directly contrasted scrutiny of ChatGPT with safety controversies surrounding other technologies, pointing to reported fatalities linked to Tesla’s Autopilot system. 

“Autopilot. I only ever rode in a car using it once, some time ago, but my first thought was that it was far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released. I won’t even start on some of the Grok decisions,” Altman said.

Altman concluded by calling out what he framed as selective outrage, responding to Musk’s short warning—“Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT”—with the line: “You take ‘every accusation is a confession’ so far.”

This social media post by Musk stemmed from an alleged report claiming that ChatGPT has been linked to multiple deaths, including cases of suicide involving both teenagers and adults.

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