Republicans are probing whether OpenAI founder Sam Altman may have violated conflict-of-interest laws through some of his personal investments, while turning a blind eye to the Trump family's investments, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the House of Representatives Oversight Committee sent Altman a letter on Friday alerting him that they are probing whether funds donated to OpenAI's charitable arm were "diverted for unintended uses." They are also looking at whether Altman's deals with companies like Helion, a nuclear fusion startup, are boosting OpenAI's value.
Several Republican state attorneys general also urged SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to investigate whether Altman's "self-dealing" has artificially inflated OpenAI's value ahead of its anticipated IPO, the report added.
Elon Musk, the former leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, has made similar claims about Altman's investments during court hearings involving a lawsuit between the two men over the last couple of weeks.
Altman has been supportive of Republican efforts to write industry-friendly AI regulations, WSJ reported. He also donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund, the New York Times reported in 2024.
“Altman’s troubling conduct thus far pales in comparison to the harm that would result if he were permitted to continue this pattern after OpenAI goes public,” reads a copy of the letter Republican attorneys general sent to the SEC.
The new probe raises questions about which conflicts of interest Republicans find worthy of investigating. For instance, Republicans have refused to look into a $500 million investment in the Trump family crypto venture by officials in the United Arab Emirates, and have not investigated any potential self-dealing when Qatari officials gave Trump a $400 million airplane for his presidential library.
The Trump children have also been involved in some dubious dealings that Republicans have not investigated. Last year, Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in a Kazakh mining company that was awarded a massive loan by the U.S. government. They have also struck multiple real estate deals in foreign countries during Trump's second term in office.