Mustafa Suleyman calls Elon Musk a 'bulldozer' and praises Sam Altman's bold AI push

Microsoft AI boss Suleyman opens up about his peers and calls Elon Musk a 'bulldozer' with 'superhuman capabilities to bend reality to his will' | Fortune

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said he's in regular contact with his peers in artificial intelligence, including OpenAI's Sam Altman, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, and Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis. In fact, Suleyman and Hassabis once worked together as cofounders of DeepMind, though Suleyman went on to cofound Inflection AI then joined Microsoft last year. In a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg on Friday, he was asked to share his thoughts on some of his fellow AI leaders, including Altman, whose startup recently completed a for-profit restructuring and revamped its partnership with Microsoft. He described Altman as "courageous," noting that OpenAI is aggressively building out a fleet of AI data centers to handle the massive amount of computing power needed to run ChatGPT. "He may well turn out to be one of the great entrepreneurs of our generation," Suleyman added. "He's certainly achieved a lot. He's building data centers at a faster rate than anyone in the industry, and if he can pull it off, it will be pretty dramatic." And despite concerns that OpenAI's investment commitments far outstrip its current level of revenue, he said he has every confidence the company can pull it off. As for Hassabis, Suleyman called him a great scientist. "I think he's a great thinker and he's a good polymath. He's made massive contributions in the field, multiple times. He's truly exceptional." Suleyman also revealed that even though the one-time collaborators are now competitors, they remain good friends and stay in touch regularly. He even texted Hassabis recently to congratulate him on Nano Banana, Gemini 3 and AlphaFold. Then he was asked about Elon Musk, who is an OpenAI cofounder but has since fallen out with Altman and is pursuing AI through his startup xAI. Suleyman called him a "bulldozer." "He's kind of got superhuman capabilities to bend reality to his will and has, you know, pretty incredible track record," he added. "And somehow he sort of mostly manages to pull off what appears to be impossible." Not only did Musk disrupt the auto and space sectors with Tesla and SpaceX, respectively, he's charging into medical technology with Neuralink and transportation with the Boring Co. He also dove into politics, becoming the top Republican donor last year, and briefly joining the Trump administration. He feuded with the president this summer, but they have shown some signs of warming up lately. While Musk has a "different kind of set of values," Suleyman said, "I kind of like that he speaks his mind. He's very unfiltered."

Microsoft AI Chief Suleyman Calls Elon Musk A 'Bulldozer,' Praises Sam Altman As 'Courageous' - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI (NASDAQ:MSFT), offered his perspective on some of the key figures in the AI industry. What Happened: Suleyman, who maintains regular communication with his industry counterparts, commended Sam Altman of OpenAI for his bravery and ambitious expansion of AI data centers. He voiced his belief in Altman's capacity to handle OpenAI's investment obligations, even though they significantly exceed its present revenue. "He may well turn out to be one of the great entrepreneurs of our generation. He's certainly achieved a lot. He's building data centers at a faster rate than anyone in the industry, and if he can pull it off, it will be pretty dramatic," Suleyman said about Altman. During an interview with Bloomberg, he expressed admiration for Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind (NASDAQ:GOOGL), describing him as an exceptional scientist and a skilled polymath. Despite their competitive roles, Suleyman disclosed that they continue to be good friends and frequently keep in touch. However, talking about Elon Musk, the CEO of xAI and co-founder of OpenAI, Suleyman characterized him as a "bulldozer" with "superhuman abilities to shape reality to his will". He also valued Musk's straightforward manner of expressing his views. Also Read: Elon Musk Is Feuding With Sam Altman In A Major Lawsuit Over OpenAI -- And One Appears To Already Have The Upper Hand "He's kind of got superhuman capabilities to bend reality to his will and has, you know, pretty incredible track record. And somehow he sort of mostly manages to pull off what appears to be impossible," he said. Why It Matters: The AI industry is a rapidly evolving field, and the insights of industry leaders like Suleyman provide valuable perspectives on the dynamics within the sector. His comments on his peers not only highlight the collaborative spirit that exists among these industry leaders but also underscore the importance of bold leadership and innovation in driving the growth of AI technology. Furthermore, Suleyman's remarks about Musk and Altman's roles at OpenAI suggest a recognition of the organization's significant contributions to the AI landscape. This could potentially hint at future collaborations or competitive strategies within the industry. Read Next Here's How Sam Altman Quietly Replaced Elon Musk as Donald Trump's Go-To AI Advisor GOOGLAlphabet Inc$308.79-0.16%OverviewMSFTMicrosoft Corp$477.17-0.28%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Microsoft AI chief calls Elon Musk a bulldozer, praises Sam Altman's AI push

Suleyman called Elon Musk a "bulldozer" with "superhuman capabilities." Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence, Mustafa Suleyman, has offered rare praise for some of the biggest names in the AI world, including OpenAI's Sam Altman, Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, and xAI's Elon Musk. In an interview with Bloomberg, Suleyman said he stays in regular contact with other top AI leaders, even though many of them now run competing companies, reports Fortune. When asked about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Suleyman spoke about his ambition and drive. He described Altman as "courageous," pointing to OpenAI's aggressive push to build massive data centers needed to power ChatGPT. "He may well turn out to be one of the great entrepreneurs of our generation," Suleyman added. "He's certainly achieved a lot. He's building data centers at a faster rate than anyone in the industry, and if he can pull it off, it will be pretty dramatic." Also read: Google Pixel 10 price drops by over Rs 14,000 on Amazon: Check deal details here Despite concerns that OpenAI is spending far more money than it currently earns, Suleyman said he believes the company can succeed. Suleyman also shared warm words for Demis Hassabis, his former DeepMind partner. He called Hassabis a top scientist and thinker, saying, "I think he's a great thinker and he's a good polymath. He's made massive contributions in the field, multiple times. He's truly exceptional." Even though the two now compete in AI, Suleyman said they are still close friends and stay in touch often. He recently texted Hassabis to congratulate him on Nano Banana, Gemini 3, and AlphaFold. Also read: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 price drops by over Rs 45,700 on Amazon: Check details When the topic turned to Elon Musk, Suleyman called him a "bulldozer." "He's kind of got superhuman capabilities to bend reality to his will and has, you know, pretty incredible track record," Suleyman added. "And somehow he sort of mostly manages to pull off what appears to be impossible." Musk, who helped cofound OpenAI but later split from the company, now runs his own AI startup, xAI. He is also known for leading X, Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink. Suleyman acknowledged that Musk has a "different kind of set of values," but added, "I kind of like that he speaks his mind. He's very unfiltered."