Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, during a fireside chat organized by Softbank Ventures Asia in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, June 9, 2023.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
U.S. senators on Friday expressed concern to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that he’s attempting to “cozy up to the incoming Trump administration” with the aim of avoiding regulation and limiting scrutiny.
In a letter signed by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Michael Bennet of Colorado, the lawmakers said that in the two months since the election, large tech companies have made “million-dollar gifts to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund in what appears to be an effort to influence and sway the actions and policies of the incoming administration.”
Altman personally contributed $1 million to the inauguration fund. Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon donated the same amount, but as companies rather than from executives. Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly also contributed $1 million.
“You have a clear and direct interest in obtaining favors from the incoming administration: your company and many other Big Tech donors are already the subject of ongoing federal investigations and regulatory actions,” according to the letter posted by Altman on X and later by the senators online.
In his post, Altman wrote, “funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats…”
Representatives for Warren and Bennet didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Altman plans to attend Trump’s inauguration Monday, a company spokesperson confirmed to CNBC, and will reportedly be joining many of his tech peers in Washington, D.C. Others include Cook, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Altman’s public moves to support Trump come alongside a thorny legal battle between OpenAI and Musk, who co-founded the startup and has in recent months been a fixture at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Musk is co-leading the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is expected to function as an advisory office. The role could give Musk, who also owns X and runs SpaceX, influence over federal agencies’ budgets, staffing and regulations in ways that favor his companies, including his AI startup, xAI.
Trump has said publicly in the past that he would repeal President Joe Biden’s AI executive order, issued in October 2023, which introduced new safety assessments, equity and civil rights guidance and research on AI’s impact on the labor market.
In the letter, lawmakers say “the industry’s efforts suggest that Big Tech companies are trying to curry favor and skirt the rules” and that the donations “raise questions about corruption and the influence of corporate money on the Trump administration.”
It includes a list of questions to be answered by a deadline of Jan. 25, including, “When and under what circumstances did your company decide to make these contributions to the Trump inaugural fund?”
The letter also asks Altman whether OpenAI officials had any communications about his donation with members of the Trump transition team or the president-elect’s other associates, requesting that he list all such communications.
Altman noted on X that his own donation “was a personal contribution as you state; i am confused about the questions given that my company did not make a decision.”
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