Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, reportedly intends to contribute $1 million to the inaugural fund of President-elect Trump. This donation will be in addition to those made by other tech executives this week.
Altman’s spokesperson verified that the $1 million donation will be sourced from his personal funds rather than the ChatGPT maker.
“President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead,” Altman said in a statement released by his spokesman.
Unlike his industry competitors, Meta and Amazon, which each made $1 million contributions as companies, Altman did so as an individual.
Fox News was the first to report on the intended donation.
The contributions to presidential inaugural funds are not novel; however, some observers have interpreted the actions as part of a broader effort by the tech industry to court Trump in anticipation of his second term, particularly in light of his developing relationship with tech magnate Elon Musk.
Following the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, Facebook prohibited the former president from using the platform, which resulted in a somewhat contentious relationship between Zuckerberg and Trump.
The former president once referred to Facebook as an “enemy of the people.”
Additionally, the president-elect’s relationship with Amazon and Bezos was turbulent during his inaugural term.
Musk has expressed particular dissatisfaction with OpenAI, which he assisted in the establishment of in 2015, in collaboration with Altman and others.
Altman and OpenAI have been accused by the proprietor of Tesla and SpaceX of coercing him into supporting the artificial intelligence (AI) initiative by assuring him that it would create a transparent and secure AI.
He is currently involved in a litigation against OpenAI for allegedly violating its founding principles by transitioning from a nonprofit organization to a for-profit entity.
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