Sam Altman claps back at Senate inquiry into Trump inaugural fund donation

OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman clapped back at two Democratic senators' inquiry into his $1 million personal donation to President-elect Trump's inaugural fund, quipping Friday he was not subject to the same scrutiny for his past donations to Democrats.

"[F]unny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats..." Altman wrote Friday on social platform X, adding "it was a personal contribution as you state; i am confused about the questions given that my company did not make a decision."

Altman, a longtime Democratic donor, attached photos of what appears to be a letter he received Friday from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who pressed the tech CEO on the $1 million donation he made last month to Trump's inaugural fund.

The Hill reached out to Warren's and Bennet's offices to confirm the letter's details.

The senators referenced OpenAI as one of the several technology companies that have made a "million-dollar gift" to Trump, though the donation came from Altman's personal funds and not on behalf of the company. This differed from other major technology companies like Meta, Amazon and Google, which each donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund last month as individual companies.

The senators later acknowledged this was Altman's personal donation but listed various questions about the company's decisionmaking process, prompting Altman to affirm his company was not behind the decision.

"In the two months since the election, Big Tech companies including OpenAI have made million-dollar gifts to President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund in what appears to be an effort to influence and sway the actions and policies of the incoming administration," the senators wrote.

"We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor," they wrote.

Warren and Bennet referenced the various legal challenges facing leading technology companies, from antitrust lawsuits to allegations of violated privacy. They listed companies like Amazon, Google and Meta — all of which donated $1 million — and the investigations into these companies.

"It is critical that federal regulators continue to evenhandedly apply competition, consumer protection, anti-discrimination laws and any other rule or law that applies to your company," the letter stated. "But the industry's efforts suggest that Big Tech companies are trying to curry favor and skirt the rules."

The senators requested Altman answer five questions by the end of the month about the rationale for his contributions and whether OpenAI's board or shareholders were informed about his plans.

The other questions characterized Altman's donation as a company one, stating, "when and under what circumstances" OpenAI decided to make the contribution, which individuals within the company played a role in the decision and whether company officials communicated with Trump's transition team.

Democrats have fiercely pushed back on the emerging dynamics between the tech industry and Trump, who spent years hammering the companies in the traditionally deep blue Silicon Valley.

In his farewell speech this week, President Biden voiced concerns of an “oligarchy ... of extreme wealth, power and influence” forming in America. He did not directly name Trump or his billionaire allies but went on to call out technology companies like Meta for ending its fact-checking program amid the threat of misinformation and disinformation.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) quipped the “billionaires are in charge.”

“People who want to addict our kids to their technology, control what we think and do, destroy small businesses so they own everything,” he wrote on X this week. “That’s what you will see on Monday.”

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