Sam Altman responds to Meta's poaching, praises Trump, laughs at Musk

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he doesn’t like smartglasses, a device choice by Meta, which has been recently poaching Altman’s researchers. In his latest interview, Altman also revealed his tumultuous relationship with Elon Musk and praised President Donald Trump.

In comments to reporters at the Sun Valley conference, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed various insights into his relationship with high-powered individuals in the tech world and the US government.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he hasn’t spoken to Mark Zuckerberg since the Meta CEO poached some of OpenAI’s top engineers. Speaking at the Sun Valley conference, Altman also says he doesn't feel represented by the Democratic Party https://t.co/0AuDUJSMdg pic.twitter.com/WmMXkf4R1y

undefined Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) July 8, 2025

The interview began with the question on everyone’s lips: How does Altman feel about Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg poaching AI talent?

The Meta vs OpenAI competition for AI talent

When asked how he feels about the battle for talent with Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, Altman responded in two words, “fine” and “good.”

This doesn’t exactly tell us much about the situation. However, according to Altman, the pair haven’t spoken since the Meta CEO started going after OpenAI’s top researchers.

When asked whether he’s spoken to Zuckerberg, Altman replied, “I have not, but I’m sure I’ll see him this week. I’m looking forward…” before being cut off by another reporter's question regarding how he retains AI talent.

The company’s mission, its talent, and the collective mission to build “a great research lab” are some of the reasons that people stay with OpenAI, said Altman.

Mark Zuckerberg poaches three OpenAI researchers

In June 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg poached three of OpenAI’s top AI researchers, luring them in with a $100 million signing bonus.

The three OpenAI researchers – Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Ziaohua Zhai took Zuckerberg up on the offer to join his superintelligence efforts.

The three researchers were all working in OpenAI’s Zurich office, set up in late 2024. Before that, the trio worked together at Google DeepMind, the Wall Street Journal said.

Zuckerberg isn’t just after OpenAI’s talent. Recently, Ruoming Pang, Apple’s distinguished software engineer, also left Apple to pursue better prospects at Meta, according to Bloomberg and people with knowledge of the matter.

Altman doesn’t like wearable tech, a dig at Zuckerberg perhaps?

In the interview, Altman expressed his disdain for wearable tech when asked whether he was wearing a pair of smartglasses.

This comment could be seen as a dig at Zuckerberg and Meta’s smartglasses, which have risen in popularity.

But the OpenAI CEO expressed that he “doesn’t like” the smart glasses concept, suggesting that the company won’t be creating its own line of wearable tech anytime soon.

Altman’s attitude to Elon Musk and his “bust-ups”

One reporter mentioned Altman’s previous statements that he felt “politically homeless” and asked about his attitude towards Elon Musk creating his own political party.

“I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to read about it,” Altman said as he swiftly brushed off the question.

One reporter asked about Musk’s “bust up” with President Donald Trump, to which Altman responded, “Elon busts up with everybody.”

Altman didn’t reveal too much, but when asked about his relationship with Musk, he simply responded, “How do you think?”

Read between the lines: Altman and Musk’s tumultuous relationship

It’s no secret that Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s relationship has been far from smooth sailing.

The pair have had very public disputes via Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms regarding OpenAI, a non-profit AI company that Altman and Musk co-founded along with others.

When Altman announced his plans to transition OpenAI to a “for-profit,” it was heavily criticised by Musk.

Both tech moguls have been in various legal battles, with Musk suing Altman a few times over Altman’s “for-profit” plans.

It’s clear that the pair don’t see eye to eye.

Altman’s political homelessness and softening on Trump

However, he did elaborate on his feelings of political homelessness by expressing how he no longer feels represented by the “mainstream democrats” whom he previously supported.

At the same time, Altman seemed to praise Republican President Donald Trump, stating that the administration seems to “really care about AI infrastructure,” building this infrastructure, and “seeing the US succeed here.”

Altman, like many other tech industry elites, has been warming to Trump.

Tech moguls, once disdainful, now warm to Trump

Big names in the tech industry used to openly criticize Trump, with Zuckerberg saying he was disgusted by Trump’s rhetoric following the June 6th insurrection and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos creating a hashtag urging someone to “send Donald to space.”

Even President Trump’s closest buddy, now turned worst enemy, said that he didn’t hate Trump, but it was “time for him to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.”

But these tech moguls had a change of heart once Trump was starting to look popular.

Altman was no different as he declared a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund as a gesture of goodwill towards the President-elect.