TLDR
- Elon Musk posted on X telling people not to let loved ones use ChatGPT after claims linking the chatbot to nine deaths since 2022
- Sam Altman responded by defending ChatGPT’s safety measures and criticizing Tesla’s Autopilot technology, saying it felt unsafe when he used it
- At least eight wrongful-death lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI alleging ChatGPT contributed to suicides and mental health issues
- Tesla faces multiple wrongful-death lawsuits over Autopilot, including one case where a jury awarded $329 million in damages
- The public feud continues as Musk and Altman remain in a legal battle over OpenAI’s shift from nonprofit to for-profit status
Elon Musk and Sam Altman exchanged heated messages on X on Tuesday about safety issues tied to their companies’ products. Musk started the exchange by posting “Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT” in response to claims that OpenAI’s chatbot had been linked to nine deaths since its 2022 release.
Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT https://t.co/730gz9XTJ2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 20, 2026
Altman quickly defended ChatGPT and its safety measures. He said OpenAI faces conflicting criticism about being both too restrictive and too relaxed with its guardrails.
“Almost a billion people use it, and some of them may be in very fragile mental states,” Altman wrote. He stressed that OpenAI feels huge responsibility to protect vulnerable users while still allowing others to benefit from the tools.
Altman then turned the criticism back on Musk’s companies. He said he rode in a car using Tesla’s Autopilot once and thought it was “far from a safe thing for Tesla to have released.”
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
He also mentioned Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot on X. Grok has recently faced regulatory probes in Europe, India, and Malaysia over AI-generated explicit images created without consent.
“You take ‘every accusation is a confession’ so far,” Altman wrote. This comment referred to the pattern of Musk criticizing issues that also affect his own products.
Legal Battles Over Safety
At least eight wrongful-death lawsuits have been filed against OpenAI. These cases allege that ChatGPT use contributed to worsening mental health conditions, leading to instances of suicide and murder.
The parents of a 16-year-old boy sued OpenAI in August 2024 for wrongful death. They said their son became reliant on the chatbot in the weeks before his death and that emergency safeguards failed to trigger.
OpenAI maintains that ChatGPT directs users to crisis hotlines and resources outside the app. The company has said safeguards can degrade over longer conversations and is working to improve safety tools for teens.
Tesla also faces multiple wrongful-death lawsuits related to its self-driving technology. One 2019 crash in Florida left a 22-year-old woman dead.
A jury found Tesla 33% liable for that crash. The plaintiffs were awarded $329 million in total damages.
Public databases show scores of Tesla crashes where Autopilot or other driver-assistance technologies were engaged before impact. This data comes from U.S. regulators, court filings, and news reports.
Ongoing Legal Dispute
The social media feud comes as Musk and Altman are in a long-running legal battle over OpenAI’s status. Musk sued Altman and other OpenAI leaders, claiming they misled him about the company’s direction.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a research lab. He left the board in 2018 and has been a vocal critic since then.
The lawsuit alleges OpenAI moved away from its original nonprofit mission by pursuing a for-profit structure. Musk said he donated $38 million to OpenAI when it was founded as a nonprofit.
Tesla has been investigated by U.S. and foreign regulators over emergency door release systems. Regulators want to know if Tesla’s door controls are visible and easy to find during emergencies.
Representatives for Musk and Altman did not respond to requests for comment.
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