Musk and Altman Reignite Feud Over Apple Lawsuit, SpaceX IPO

The long-running rivalry between Elon Musk and Sam Altman flared up again this week, with the two tech billionaires exchanging pointed jabs on X just days after Apple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI.

Musk Revives Old Nickname

According to a report from the New York Post, Musk resurrected his familiar “Scam Altman” jab, accusing his former OpenAI co-founder of pushing deceptive practices to new extremes. Altman shot back almost immediately, turning the accusation around on Musk by pointing to SpaceX’s recent IPO and suggesting Musk was misleading public investors with promises tied to short-term space-based data centers.

Legal Battles Fuel the Rivalry

The renewed sniping comes against a backdrop of escalating legal conflict. Apple’s lawsuit alleges that OpenAI, along with its hardware chief — a former Apple executive — misappropriated trade secrets to develop its own consumer devices. The suit arrives just two months after a jury dismissed Musk’s own $150 billion legal claim against OpenAI, a ruling that cleared the way for OpenAI to pursue a major initial public offering. In response, Musk’s AI company xAI has since launched its own trade-secret lawsuits against both OpenAI and Apple, deepening the web of litigation connecting all three companies.

Musk and Altman co-founded OpenAI together in 2015, but their partnership collapsed after Musk’s departure, giving way to years of public feuding and courtroom battles. Their latest exchange underscores how personal — and public — tensions remain among Silicon Valley’s most prominent AI leaders, even as their companies compete for dominance in an increasingly high-stakes industry.

The dispute shows no signs of cooling, with both men continuing to trade barbs as their companies’ legal and financial fortunes remain intertwined.