The CEO of OpenAI warned that if Elon Musk’s position of power is abused, it would be ‘profoundly un-American’.
The Tesla boss has seen his circle of friends rise all the way up to the incoming First Family after backing Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election.
After celebrating Trump’s win at Mar-a-Lago last month, Musk was named as the head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by the president-elect.
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While it is not officially a government department, under DOGE the billionaire will look at the federal budget.
And he’s already promised to slash government spending by trillions.
Along with conservative activist Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk has promised a complete overhaul and Trump has revealed that the department will help to ‘dismantle Government Bureaucracy’.
In a statement, Musk said: “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!”
On X, formerly Twitter, he went on to say: “Threat to democracy? Nope, threat to BUREAUCRACY!!!”
When announcing the new commission, Trump went on to say that DOGE will conduct a ‘complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government, and making recommendations for drastic reforms’.
However, some other moguls in the tech world have shared their thoughts on Musk’s influence.
Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said: “It would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon has it to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses.
“I don't think people would tolerate that. I don't think Elon would do it.”
It’s fair to say that the pair haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
Both Altman and Musk founded OpenAI together back in 2015 but within three years this dissolved into rivalry when the SpaceX CEO left the company.
Musk has since been vocal about his criticisms of Altman and even sued OpenAI.
It is still unclear exactly what power and to what extent Musk will have as the new administration enters the White House in January.
It doesn’t look like DOGE will be a full-time gig for Musk as Trump has said that it will end on July 4 2026, on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The president-elect added that a more efficient government will be a ‘gift’ to the country on that day.
But despite this, Musk seems to have the trust of Trump, a friendship that could be concerning to his competitors.