According to the post, five of those cases allegedly involved self-harm, including teens and adults. Musk added his own message alongside it, saying, “Don’t let your loved ones use ChatGPT.”
The claim spread quickly, but there’s an important caveat. was unable to independently verify the statistics, and DogeDesigner did not provide a source for the numbers cited.
Sam Altman Responds Within Hours
Just hours later, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded publicly, pushing back on Musk’s framing of the issue.
Altman described the situation as “tragic and complicated,” noting that ChatGPT is used by nearly a billion people worldwide, including users who may already be in vulnerable mental states. He said OpenAI takes that responsibility seriously and continues to adjust its safeguards, even though there’s no simple solution.
Altman also pointed out a tension in Musk’s criticism, saying OpenAI is often accused of being both too restrictive and too permissive at the same time. According to him, protecting vulnerable users while still allowing others to benefit from the technology is a difficult balance.
Altman Turns the Spotlight on Tesla and Grok
Altman didn’t limit his response to defending ChatGPT. He also took aim at Musk’s own products, starting with Tesla’s driver-assistance technology.
In his statement, Altman referenced reports suggesting that more than 50 people have died in crashes linked to Tesla’s Autopilot system. He said he had only ridden in a car using Autopilot once, but even then felt it was not safe enough to have been released in its early form.
“I won’t even start on some of the Grok decisions,” Altman added, referring to Musk’s chatbot, which has been under fire recently for generating nonconsensual sexual imagery.
Grok Backlash and Autopilot Scrutiny
The comments come at a sensitive moment for Musk’s AI efforts. Earlier this month, Grok faced widespread backlash after it was found generating sexual deepfakes, including content involving minors. The controversy sparked criticism from government leaders and public figures, and X later committed to limiting access to Grok’s image-generation features.
Tesla’s Autopilot system has also been under regulatory scrutiny for years. A 2024 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration linked Autopilot to nearly 1,000 crashes in recent years, including more than two dozen fatal incidents. Investigators said many crashes involved inattentive drivers who appeared to believe the system was fully autonomous.
Musk has repeatedly pushed back against that narrative, arguing that Autopilot saves lives by reducing human error. Just last week, he promoted Tesla’s full self-driving service again, announcing it would move from an $8,000 one-time purchase to a subscription-only model.
A Long-Running Rift Between Two AI Founders
This latest exchange is part of a much longer feud between Musk and Altman. The two co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab focused on developing AI for the public good. Musk left the board in 2018 and has since criticized OpenAI’s shift toward a for-profit structure and its close partnership with Microsoft.
Altman has defended that evolution, saying it was necessary to fund large-scale AI research. Musk, meanwhile, has accused OpenAI of abandoning its original mission and sidelining him in the process.