Sam Altman posts a letter from senators involved about OpenAI donations

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Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, throughout a hearth chat hosted by Softbank Ventures Asia in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday, June 9, 2023.

SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures

US senators expressed concern to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Friday that he’s making an attempt to “adapt to the brand new Trump administration” with the purpose of avoiding regulation and limiting scrutiny.

In a single letter signed by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Michael Bennet of Colorado, the lawmakers stated that within the two months because the election, main tech corporations have donated “hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund in what seems to be an effort to undermine the actions and insurance policies of to affect and affect the brand new authorities.”

Altman personally contributed $1 million to the inauguration fund. Microsoft, Googling, Meta And Amazon donated the identical quantity, however as corporations as a substitute of executives. Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner additionally reportedly contributed $1 million.

“You’ve gotten a transparent and direct curiosity in acquiring favors from the brand new administration: your organization and lots of different Massive Tech donors are already the topic of ongoing federal investigations and regulatory actions,” stated the letter despatched to Altman on the US authorities has posted. senators on-line.

In his afterwrote Altman: “humorous, they by no means despatched me one in all these as a result of I contributed to the Democrats…”

Representatives for Warren and Bennet didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Altman plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, an organization spokesperson confirmed to CNBC, and can reportedly be part of lots of his tech colleagues in Washington, DC. Others embrace Cook dinner, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Altman’s public strikes to help Trump come amid a thorny authorized battle between OpenAI and Musk, who co-founded the startup and has been a fixture at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in latest months.

Musk co-leads the Trump administration’s so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity, which is anticipated to operate as a consultancy. The position might give Musk, who additionally owns

Trump has publicly stated previously that he would revoke President Joe Biden’s AI govt order issued in October 2023, which launched new security assessments, equality and civil rights pointers and analysis into AI’s impression on the labor market.

Within the letter, lawmakers say that “the trade’s efforts counsel that Massive Tech corporations try to curry favor and skirt rules” and that the donations “increase questions on corruption and the affect of company cash on the Trump administration. ”

It features a listing of questions that have to be answered by January 25, together with: “When and beneath what circumstances did your organization determine to make these contributions to Trump’s inaugural fund?”

The letter additionally asks Altman whether or not OpenAI officers have had any communications about his donation with members of the Trump transition crew or different associates of the president-elect, asking that every one such communications be listed.

Altman famous to

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Sam Altman posts a letter from senators involved about OpenAI donations

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