OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during a fireside chat organized by SoftBank Asia Ventures in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, June 9, 2023.
Sung-jun Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. senators expressed concerns to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday, saying he was trying to “curry favor with the incoming Trump administration” in order to avoid regulation and Limit censorship.
The letter was signed by Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts and Michael Bennett Colorado senators say Big Tech companies made multimillion-dollar gifts to President-elect Donald Trump’s first fund in the two months after the election in what appeared to be an effort to influence and influence the incoming administration actions and policies”.
Altman personally donated $1 million to the inaugural fund. Microsoft, Google, Yuan and Amazon The same amount was donated, but in a corporate rather than executive capacity. apple Chief executive Tim Cook also reportedly donated $1 million.
“You have a clear and direct interest in obtaining benefits from the incoming administration: your company and many other big tech donors are already the subject of ongoing federal investigations and regulatory actions,” Altman said in the letter.
in his post on XAltman wrote, “Interestingly enough, they never sent me one of these for my contributions to the Democratic Party…”
Representatives for Senators Warren and Bennett did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to CNBC that Altman plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, where he will reportedly join many of his tech peers in Washington, D.C. Others include Cook, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Amazon founder Jeff BezosYuan CEO Mark ZuckerbergGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Musk.
Altman’s public support of Trump comes amid a thorny legal battle between OpenAI and Musk. Trump is a frequent visitor to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Musk co-leads the Trump administration’s Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), which is expected to serve as an advisory office. The position could give Musk — who also owns X and runs SpaceX — influence over federal agency budgets, staffing and regulations to the benefit of his companies, including his artificial intelligence startup xAI.
Trump has publicly stated in the past that he would repeal President Joe Biden’s The Artificial Intelligence Executive Order, issued in October 2023, introduces new safety assessments, equity and civil rights guidance, and research on the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the labor market.
In Altman’s letter released Friday, the lawmakers said the “industry’s efforts demonstrate that Big Tech is trying to curry favor and circumvent the rules” and that the donations “raised concerns about corruption and the influence of corporate money in the Trump administration.” doubts”.
It includes a series of questions that need to be answered by the Jan. 25 deadline, including “When and under what circumstances did your company decide to make these contributions to the Trump Inaugural Fund?”
The letter also asked Altman whether OpenAI officials had any communications with members of the Trump transition team or other associates of the president-elect about his donation, and asked him to list any such communications.
Altman noted on
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