Sam Altman hits back at Elon Musk’s ChatGPT warning, questions Grok decisions, Tesla safety record

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has pushed back against Elon Musk’s latest criticism of ChatGPT after the Tesla and xAI founder warned people against allowing their loved ones to use the chatbot, marking a further escalation in the increasingly public rift between the former collaborators.

In a post on X, Altman acknowledged that building effective guardrails for a product used by close to a billion people is genuinely difficult, particularly when some users may be in fragile mental states, he said. He pointed to what he described as the contradictory nature of the criticism OpenAI faces, stating that the company is often accused of being too restrictive while simultaneously being criticised for not doing enough in sensitive cases.

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

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 20, 2026

Altman stated that OpenAI takes user safety seriously, especially when it comes to protecting vulnerable individuals, and informed that the scale of ChatGPT’s user base creates a significant responsibility to make the right safety decisions. At the same time, he argued that excessively aggressive safeguards could limit the usefulness of the technology for other users, adding that the challenge lies in protecting those at risk while ensuring the tools remain broadly beneficial.

The OpenAI chief also drew a comparison with Musk’s own safety record, referencing media reports that link more than 50 deaths to crashes involving Tesla’s Autopilot system. Altman stated that the only time he personally experienced a vehicle using Autopilot, his immediate reaction was that it did not appear safe enough to have been released.

Altman further took aim at Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI and its chatbot Grok, saying he would not even begin to address some of the decisions made around that product. He also echoed a broader criticism frequently directed at Musk online, referencing the idea that every accusation is a confession.

While Musk has repeatedly accused OpenAI of acting recklessly and prioritising profits over safety, Altman’s response suggests he believes those warnings lack credibility in light of ongoing safety controversies linked to Tesla and Grok, as reported in the media.