Elon Emails

Altman: second Acton quote an all-time favorite

From:: Sam Altman
Date:: November 14, 2015 (Sent Saturday 6:04 PM)
To:: Elon Musk
Subject:: Re: Great Acton quotes

the second is one of my all-time favorite quotes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-bwW1czuL4&feature=youtu.be&t=122

About this email

Altman replies that the second Acton quote is one of his favorites and links a YouTube clip.

Where it came from

Court record; attribution confirmed.

Musk v. Altman (N.D. Cal., No. 4:24-cv-04722-YGR), Dkt. 379-61 (Exhibit 6)
Mother Jones, 'The Musk v. Altman court battle reveals how the oligarchy is afraid of itself' (Apr 2026)
Business Insider via Yahoo Finance, 'Musk pitched naming OpenAI Freemind in jab at Google, emails show' (Apr 29, 2026)

OpenAI, executive & internal. Tags: lord-acton, power, philosophy, musk-v-openai

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