OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is the latest billionaire to announce a donation to the inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump, following recent moves by both Meta Platforms Inc META CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder Jeff Bezos.
What Happened: Altman said he supports the new president's efforts to push forward the U.S. growth in the artificial intelligence sector.
"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 told Fox News Digital.
The donation will come directly from Altman and not from OpenAI, the AI company he co-founded and leads, according to the report.
News of the donation follows Altman's recent comments that he was looking forward to working with the incoming White House administration and stressing it was "super important" that the U.S. leads the AI sector as it fends off competition from China.
"AI is a little bit different than other kinds of software in that it requires massive amounts of infrastructure, power, computer chips, data centers and we need to build that here, and we need to be able to have the best AI infrastructure in the world to be able to lead with the technology and the capabilities," Altman previously told Fox News.
Altman predicted that Trump "will be very good at that."
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Why It's Important: The OpenAI CEO recently downplayed concerns that former friend turned rival Elon Musk having a close relationship with Trump could be bad for his company.
"I may turn out to be wrong, but I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing," Altman said at the New York Times DealBook Summit last week.
Altman acknowledged that xAI, an AI company founded by Musk, is a "really serious competitor" to OpenAI during his interview.
Musk was announced as the co-lead of the Department of Government Efficiency by Trump. There is concern among the tech industry and from Musk rivals that his new position could see him impact regulation and target competitors.
OpenAI's transition to a for-profit company is being contested by Musk, amplifying the rivalry between the two billionaires.
Trump announced the appointment of close Musk ally David Sacks as the "White House A.I. and Crypto Czar," which could prompt more worries for competitors of the world's richest man. Altman congratulated Sacks on the new role on X, which prompted a laughing emoji reply from Musk.
Bezos and Zuckerberg are each donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund and doing so through the companies they founded according to reports, rather than from their personal wealth.
Zuckerberg recently met with Trump and Bezos is scheduled to meet with Trump next week according to comments from the president at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.
Trump has previously been critical of Meta Platforms social media platforms, which previously suspended the president's accounts. Trump has also been critical of the Washington Post newspaper, which Bezos owns.
On Thursday, Trump acknowledged he wants everyone to do well under his new administration, including Musk and other billionaires like Zuckerberg and Bezos.
Trump said Zuckerberg had already “been over to see me” and shared that he was meeting with Bezos next week.
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