LOS ANGELES (AP) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to make a personal donation of $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund. He joins a number of technology companies and executives who are working to improve their relationships with the new administration.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the move on Friday. The announcement comes a day after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said it has donated $1 million to the same fund. Amazon also said it plans to donate $1 million.
“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.
Altman, who is in a legal dispute with rival Elon Musk, has said he is “not that concerned” about the Tesla CEO’s influence in the new administration.
Trump puts Musk, the richest man in the world, and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate, in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an outside advisory committee that will work with people within the government to reduce spending and regulations.
Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the artificial intelligence company earlier this year, claiming ChatGPT’s creator betrayed its original goals of benefiting the public interest rather than pursuing profit. Musk recently escalated the lawsuit by asking a federal judge to more fully halt OpenAI’s plans to transform itself into a for-profit company.
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