Mustafa Suleyman, Director of Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft, recently outlined a portrait of the most powerful figures in the AI industry today, while revealing the intertwined relationships between collaboration and competition at the top of technology.
Mr. Suleyman said that he regularly speaks with many leading AI leaders, including Sam altman ( OpenAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic) and Demis Hassabis ( Google DeepMind). According to him, these are individuals who are shaping the future of global artificial intelligence.
Speaking about Sam altman, the head of OpenAI, Suleyman did not hesitate to give compliments. He described altman as a brutal person and said that the CEO of OpenAI could become one of the great businessmen of this generation.
According to Suleyman, altman's push to build data centers at unprecedentedly fast speeds is a key factor for OpenAI to maintain its leading position in the AI race.
If he could do that, it would be really impressive, Suleyman said.
These reviews were made in the context that OpenAI has just completed the for-profit restructuring process and adjusted its strategic partnership with Microsoft.
Along with that, OpenAI is participating in many large-scale projects, notably the $500 billion Stargate Project, to expand computing infrastructure to serve AI models such as ChatGPT.
As for Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, Suleyman called his former co-founder an outstanding scientist and a great thinker.
He emphasized that Hassabis has made many breakthrough contributions to the AI field, from foundational research to application products.
Although currently on two different front lines, Suleyman revealed that the two are still close friends and often keep in touch. Recently, he also sent a message congratulating Hassabis on new achievements such as Gemini 3 or AlphaFold.
As for Elon Musk, Suleyman made a comment that was both reserved and admitted to his ability. He called Musk a man of the hour, a person who is capable of correcting reality to the point of wanting and often achieving seemingly impossible things.
Although Musk was at fault with Sam Altman and left OpenAI to pursue AI through xAI, Suleyman said he appreciated the billionaire's frankness and avoidance.
Mustafa Suleyman is one of the figures with a special journey in the technology industry. Born in London, the son of a Syrian taxi driver and a British nurse, he studied philosophy and theology at Oxford but left it unused to start a social career.
Suleyman co-founded DeepMind in 2010, contributing to making the company an AI icon before being acquired by Google. After leaving Google in 2022, he founded Inflection AI with chatbot Pi, before joining Microsoft in 2024 and reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella.
Suleyman's shares not only reflect the personality of AI giants, but also show that the technology race is entering a new stage, where infrastructure, people and strategic vision determine the leading position.
