Quoting Sam Altman
Leaked Altman email reveals OpenAI planned open-source release to suppress rivals and block their funding.
“We think this helps discourage others from releasing similarly-powerful models, and makes it harder for new efforts to get funded.”— Sam Altman
A 2022 internal email from Sam Altman to OpenAI's board, surfaced in the Musk v. Altman lawsuit in 2026, shows OpenAI's open-source strategy was explicitly framed as a competitive weapon to discourage rival model releases and starve new entrants of funding. This directly contradicts OpenAI's public narrative around openness and transparency. The revelation is significant because it reframes the company's historical open-source posture as strategic market suppression rather than principled sharing.