Microsoft AI Chief Calls Elon Musk a Bulldozer, Praises Sam Altman as Courageous

In a surprisingly candid assessment of his rivals, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has offered unvarnished opinions on the titans of the artificial intelligence industry, labeling Elon Musk a "bulldozer" while hailing OpenAI's Sam Altman as a "courageous" entrepreneur who may define a generation.

The comments, made during a recent high-profile interview with Bloomberg's Mishal Husain, shed light on the intense personal and professional rivalries shaping the future of AI. Suleyman, who co-founded DeepMind before joining Microsoft, dispensed with the usual corporate pleasantries to analyze the specific strengths—and forces of nature—driving the sector.

The "Bulldozer" of the Industry
Suleyman's most striking characterization was reserved for Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and xAI. When asked for a single word to describe Musk, Suleyman chose "bulldozer."


He clarified that the label was a recognition of Musk's unstoppable will rather than a simple insult. "He has kind of got superhuman capabilities to bend reality to his will," Suleyman explained. He pointed to Musk's track record with SpaceX and Tesla as evidence of his ability to "pull off what appears to be impossible," though he noted that Musk operates with "a different set of values" than others in the field.


The "bulldozer" metaphor suggests a force that clears everything in its path—effective and powerful, but potentially destructive to norms and conventions.

Altman's "Courageous" Gamble
Turning to Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (a key Microsoft partner), Suleyman was effusive in his praise, describing him as "courageous."

The praise centered on Altman's aggressive strategy to build the physical infrastructure needed for future AI models. "He's building data centers at a faster rate than anyone in the industry," Suleyman noted. "If he can pull it off, it will be pretty dramatic."


Suleyman suggested that Altman's willingness to make massive, high-risk capital bets could cement his legacy as "one of the great entrepreneurs of our generation," contrasting Altman's scaling ambitions with the more cautious approaches of other tech leaders.

A Web of Rivals and Allies
The interview highlighted the incestuous and competitive nature of the AI elite. Suleyman also spoke warmly of Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind and Suleyman's former co-founder. Despite now leading rival factions in the AI arms race—Microsoft vs. Google—Suleyman called Hassabis a "polymath" and a "great thinker," revealing that the two still exchange text messages to congratulate each other on product launches.


The conversation underscores a unique moment in Silicon Valley: while the companies are locked in a fierce battle for dominance, the individuals leading the charge share a deep, albeit complicated, mutual respect for the sheer difficulty of the problems they are trying to solve.