The day after President Donald Trump returned to Embed, Sam Altman, CEO of Tech Giant Openai, was behind the Presidential Tile of the White House and praised the newly sworn president of the 500 billion an artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.
Altman said it wouldn’t have been possible without Trump.
“For Agi [artificial general intelligence] To be built here, to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, to create a new industry centered here, we would not be able to do this without you, Mr. President, and I am excited that we are coming to , “Said Altman when he and other industry leaders smiled at photos in the Roosevelt room.
The Chummy message represented a sharp reversal for Altman, who – in the early days of Trump’s first period – emerged as one of Silicon Valley’s first and most vocal critics of the president.
From 2016 to 2022, Altman repeatedly warned of what he saw as the dangers of Trump’s leadership and his policies. During the 2016 campaign, he compared Trump to Hitler in the 1930s Germany, and he urged other tech companies to stand against Trump in the early days of the new administration. He donated hundreds of thousands to democratic causes and candidates, including $ 200,000 to help re -choose President Joe Biden in 2024.
After Trump announced the “Stargate” deal, Openai CEO seemed to address his reversal in a post on X and wrote that “watching [Trump] More carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him, “and added:” I don’t want to agree with him about everything, but I think he will be incredible to the country in many ways! “
Other tech leaders have moved their attitude towards Trump in recent years, even more since his election of the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta announced the end of his fact control program and facilitated restrictions on discussions on topics such as immigration and gender identity following prolonged criticism of President Trump and his allies.
‘An unprecedented threat’
Altman’s public opposition to Trump began during the 2016 presidential campaign when Altman in October of that year made his first presidential endorsement by supporting Hillary Clinton.
“I support Hillary Clinton to President. I have never approved a presidential candidate before, but I make an exception this year because this election is unique,” Altman wrote in a blog post on October 16, 2016, entitled “The election in 2016.”
“Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to America, and voting for Hillary is the best way to defend our country against it,” wrote Altman.
Months earlier, in the heat of the presidential campaign, Altman had published a scary criticism of Trump and written: “He is irresponsible in the way dictators are.”
President Donald Trump speaks from left as Masayoshi son, softbank Group CEO, Larry Ellison, President of Oracle Corporation and Chief Technology Officer and Sam Altman, Openai CEO Listen in the Roosevelt room in the White House, January 21, 2025, in Washington , DC
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
“To everyone who is familiar with Germany’s history in the 1930s, it is cooled to see Trump in action,” wrote Altman in June 2016. “Although I know intellectually it is easy in tough economic times to rile people with a hatred against outsiders, still surprising to see this happen right in front of us.
“Hitler taught us about the big lie – the lie so big and so often repeated that people end up believing it,” Altman wrote. “Trump’s big lies are hiding in sight. His big lie is that he will make America good by keeping us safe against outsiders.”
After Trump’s victory, Altman urged his colleagues in tech-tech leaders to “take a stand” against the new Trump administration in the wake of Trump’s executive order known as the so-called Muslim ban, which Trump called “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims , The United States.
Altman called the order 2017 “A breach of America’s contract with all immigrants in the nation.” The order spurred nationwide protests and legal challenges before being changed and then overthrown by President Bid by 2021.
He urged the tech industry to intervene and write on his personal blog, “The tech community is powerful. Especially large technology companies have tremendous power and are held a lot. We need to hear from CEOs clearly and unequivocally.”
He added that employees at Tech companies “had to push their businesses to find out what actions they can take.”
“It would be particularly embarrassing for us to fall for this – we are a nation of immigrants and we know that immigrants built this country (and Trump is of course the grandson of immigrants and married to an immigrant),” Altman wrote.
Altman himself took action by launching a site called “Track Trump,” which monitored Trump’s fulfillment of his 2016 campaign during his first 100 days in office. He shared the site in a tweet in February 2017, where he said, “For all the noise, Trump hasn’t actually done much yet.”
‘I think Trump is terrible’
Altman’s public criticism continued through Trump’s first presidency. In a tweet of March 2017, Altman posted, “I think Trump is terrible and few things would make me happier than him who is not president.”
“If you choose a reality -tv star as president, you can’t be surprised when you get a reality -tv show,” wrote Altman in July 2017.
At a “Talks with Google” event in October 2017, Altman defended his criticism of Trump. When he acknowledges that “If you” pig out the president, he may be able to do bad things against you, “Altman said anyway that” when the future of the Republic is at risk, the duty of the country and our values duty to your special company and your stock price. “
“I think I started it a little earlier than other people, but at this point I’m in really good company,” added Altman.
Later, in the wake of Trump’s election of the 2020 election, Altman Linkedin praised President and Democratic supporter Reid Hoffman, who wrote on Twitter, “Very few are aware of how much @reidhoffman did and used to prevent Trump from being re-elected- It seems reasonably likely to me that Trump would still be in the office without his efforts.
Democratic donations
In recent years, Altman himself has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to democratic candidates and causes, including giving $ 200,000 in 2023 to Biden Victory Fund, the joint fundraising committee trying to re -elected Joe Biden by 2024, according to the federal Election Commission that was reviewed by ABC News.
Early in the election cycle in 2020, he contributed to a number of Democratic primary presidential competitions, including to Senator Elizabeth Warren, then late. Kamala Harris and Andrew Yang then later gave $ 100,000 to Biden Victory Fund in the last weeks of the 2020 campaign.
He also gave $ 100,000 each to the Pro-Democratic Super Pacs American Bridge PAC and Senate Majority PAC.
He was not an active political contributor during the 2016 election cycle, but gave a total of $ 1,500 to the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012.
Although Altman has donated almost exclusively to Democrats, he has also donated to a handful of Republicans, including California’s reps. Darrell Issa and Jay Oberolte, Rep. John Curtis from Utah, and late. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee.
Then, after Trump was re-elected last November, Altman was among the first business leaders to publicly published their donation to Trump-Vance-in-law when tech companies, including Meta and Amazon, stood up to support Trump’s inauguration financially.
An Openai spokesman confirmed to ABC News that Altman donated $ 1 million to the initial committee in December.
Last Monday, Altman was among the selected number of tech leaders who discovered that Trump’s heavy ringing ceremony inside Capitol Rotunda.
“President Trump will lead our country into AI’s age, and I’m eager to support his efforts to make sure America stays ahead,” ALTMAN wrote in a statement to ABC News at that time about his dedication contribution.
