Sam Altman joins the list of tech billionaires who will donate to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund. Just like Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, the OpenAI CEO will donate $1 million to the committee that will be in charge of the celebrations for Donald Trump’s inauguration into the White House, scheduled for Jan. 20, 2025.
“President Trump will lead our country into the age of A.I., and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead,” Altman said to The New York Times. The donation comes at a time when the OpenAI CEO is embroiled in a legal dispute pitting him against Elon Musk, arguably the president-elect’s closest aide and his main campaign supporter.
Musk, the richest man in the world, who with Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is also a direct competitor with Altman in the business arena. However, Altman recently said he is “not that concerned” about Musk’s influence on the new administration.
Musk, who was among OpenAI’s earliest investors and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year, alleging that the ChatGPT company had betrayed its founding goals of furthering the public good rather than pursuing profits.
During 2024, Altman hired a number of key figures at his company who had previously worked for Democratic administrations. OpenAI’s vice president for global affairs, Chris Lehane, for example, had previously served as Bill Clinton’s spokesman, while Aaron Chatterji, another top executive, worked with both Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The rapprochement between Altman and Donald Trump may have come as a surprise to many, but like so many other tech giants, the 39-year-old entrepreneur is trying to solidify his relationship with the MAGA leader, who is about to take over the White House.
Altman will join Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, who in the past have had more than a few run-ins with the president-elect, in pouring $1 million into the coffers of the committee that will organize the celebration of Inauguration Day on January 20, 2025, an event that Trump cares deeply about, and to which the world’s top political leaders have been invited.
