Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) in a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman accused the tech entrepreneur of wanting “favors” from President-elect Donald Trump after donating $1 million to his inaugural committee; Altman has been a longtime donor to Democrats.
“Funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats…,” Altman wrote on X, sharing the letter he received from the two Senate Democrats.
Altman has confirmed to outlets he plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
It appears that the two Democrats have accused Altman of seeking some form of a quid-pro-quo scheme.
“You have a clear and direct interest in obtaining favors from the incoming administration: your company and many other Big Tech donors are already the subject of ongoing federal investigations and regulatory actions,” Warren and Bennet claimed.
The two continued, saying that the “industry’s efforts suggest that Big Tech companies are trying to curry favor and skirt the rules.”
“This would be good for billionaire tech executives, but is bad for America,” they added.
Warren and Bennet also said that the donation “raise[s] questions about corruption and the influence of corporate money on the Trump administration.”
The two Senate Democrats are attacking the OpenAI CEO as many outlets have reported that Altman has overwhelmingly donated to Democrats over Republicans.
In one July report, Newsweek wrote that Altman has donated to hundreds of Democrats and just one Republican.
Even a cursory glance at federal election databases show that Altman has been a major funder of the Democrat Party.
Altman wrote on X that his own donation “was a personal contribution as you state; i am confused about the questions given that my company did not make a decision.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
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