It’s a little awkward for incoming mayor Daniel Lurie that his top transition adviser is now a Donald Trump donor, as AI titan Sam Altman has donated $1 million to the Donald Trump inauguration, obviously hoping to curry favor.

It may actually be a fortuitous development that the Chronicle’s news of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman donating $1 million to the inauguration of Donald Trump comes on the same day we get the news that an OpenAI whistleblower was found dead in his SF apartment. So maybe the Trump news will drown out the news of the whistleblower’s unexplained death. Either way, it’s awkward news for Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie, as Lurie had just named Sam Altman to his mayoral transition team, and now has the optics of a Trumper being among his top lieutenants.

The Chronicle notes that other tech CEOs have cozied up to Trump with the same $1 million donation to the inauguration, like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. It’s particularly surprising in Zuckerberg’s case, as Trump once threatened to throw Zuckerberg in prison, but in recent months Zuck has been pretty reliably kissing Trump’s ass.

For his part, Altman said in a statement to the New York Times that “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead."

One on hand, it’s pretty normal for large companies or prominent CEOs to donate to these inauguration ceremonies and parties, it’s a preemptive strike to get in the new administration’s good graces and encourage favorable regulation. But it’s hard to not see this is the context of Silicon Valley’s pro-Trump turn, considering that Peter Thiel was a significant OpenAI investor, and OpenAI is still entirely reliant on investors because the company is nowhere near profitable.  

But the biggest motivating factor here may be the Elon Musk-Sam Altman pissing match. Musk was Trump’s biggest cheerleader in tech, and surely expects (and will get) plenty in return for his $240 million in Trump PAC contributions. One thing Musk will want in return is the federal government muscling his competitors out of business, and Musk’s fledgling AI company x.AI, and first public-facing tool Grok, is currently being far overshadowed by OpenAI and ChatGPT.

So Musk may tell Trump he wants OpenAI taken out, or given competitive disadvantages. And Sam Altman may find his $1 million Trump donation was too little, too late to keep the incoming administration from taking Musk’s aggressions out on OpenAI, or Altman himself.

Related: What's Up With Mark Zuckerberg Talking to Trump on the Phone Twice This Summer? [SFist]

Image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 04: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Visits "Making Money With Charles Payne" at Fox Business Network Studios on December 04, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)