OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently criticized the popular workplace messaging app Slack, calling it a source of "fake work." He suggested that advanced artificial intelligence could soon replace traditional office productivity tools. This statement quickly prompted a renewed warning from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who declared Microsoft's continued support for OpenAI as "insanely suicidal." ### Altman's Vision for AI-Driven Productivity Sam Altman, the head of the company behind ChatGPT, expressed his personal dislike for Slack during an interview on the Conversations with Tyler YouTube channel. Altman confessed he often feels "dread the first hour of the morning, the last hour before I go to bed, where I'm just dealing with this explosion of Slack." He said this constant influx of messages "creates a lot of fake work"^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}. While acknowledging that Slack is "better than email," Altman clarified that this was not high praise, questioning if Slack is truly a good tool^[2][3]. He believes the tech industry needs a fundamental shift in how teams collaborate. Altman envisions a future where AI-driven tools will replace the entire office productivity suite, including applications like Google Docs, Slides, email, and Slack itself^{[1][2][3][8][4][5][6][7]}. He suggested that AI agents could manage most tasks automatically, only escalating to human workers when necessary^[3][8][5]. OpenAI, despite Altman's reservations, reportedly relies heavily on Slack for its internal communications^[2][3][6]. ### Musk's Fierce Warnings to Microsoft Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI who later left the company, seized on Altman's comments to amplify his long-standing criticisms of Microsoft's deep involvement with OpenAI. Responding to a video of Altman's remarks, Musk posted on X, "As I was saying, OpenAI will compete directly with Microsoft"^{[1][8][4][5][9]}. He then added a sharp warning: "At this point, it's insanely suicidal for Microsoft to continue supporting OpenAI"^[1][8][4][9]. Musk's warnings are not new. In August, following the launch of OpenAI's GPT-5, he had already declared that "OpenAI is going to eat Microsoft alive"^{[1][4][10][11][12][9][13][14]}. His concerns stem from OpenAI's evolution from a non-profit entity to a for-profit venture, backed by a massive investment from Microsoft. Microsoft's stake in OpenAI is reportedly valued around $135 billion^[9]. Musk has filed lawsuits against OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging anti-competitive practices and a "betrayal" of OpenAI's original mission to benefit humanity^{[15][16][13][17]}. He claims that Microsoft and OpenAI have illegally sought to monopolize the generative AI market^[17]. ### The Broader AI Productivity Battleground The statements from Altman and Musk highlight the intense competition and shifting landscape in the artificial intelligence and workplace productivity sectors. Microsoft, a major investor and partner in OpenAI, has been integrating OpenAI's advanced models extensively into its own product ecosystem. The company has rolled out GPT-5 across its platforms, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, and Azure AI Foundry^{[10][12][9][13][14]}. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella offered a playful response to Musk's dire prediction that OpenAI would "eat Microsoft alive." Nadella stated, "People have been trying for 50 years and that's the fun of it!"^[10][11][14]. He emphasized the continuous cycle of innovation, partnership, and competition in the tech industry. While Microsoft leverages OpenAI's models, it is also developing its own homegrown AI models to enhance its Copilot assistant and other features^[9]. Elon Musk is actively building his own AI ventures to challenge the market. His company xAI develops the Grok AI chatbot, which aims to compete directly with products like ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing AI^[1][18]. Furthermore, Musk has unveiled plans for a project jokingly called "Macrohard," an AI-only software company designed to compete with Microsoft's Office suite by simulating entire software operations using artificial intelligence^[19][20]. This ongoing rivalry among tech giants underscores a rapid race to redefine how work gets done and how productivity tools will evolve in an AI-driven future^[5][6].