Clash of the titans: 6 biggest feuds in the tech world

In the high-stakes race of technology, innovation isn’t the only thing that sparks headlines. 

While Silicon Valley is often painted as a collaborative hub where visionaries change the world side by side, the reality is far more dramatic.

Behind the billion-dollar valuations and game-changing inventions lies competition, disagreements, and full-blown feuds.

Here’s a deep dive into some of the most intense rivalries that have shaped and sometimes shaken the tech industry.

Elon Musk vs Sam Altman

Once united by a shared mission to build safe and accessible artificial intelligence (AI), the Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, and OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, are now engaged in one of the most dramatic and public feuds.

In 2015, the two tech titans co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research lab aiming to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) for the benefit of humanity.

Later, in 2018, Musk officially stepped down from OpenAI’s board, citing a conflict of interest with Tesla’s own AI development.

However, in 2023, Musk launched xAI, a rival company aimed at developing "truthful" and "transparent" AI.

Moving forward to 2024, the rivalry between the two tech titans escalated into the courtroom.

Musk sued OpenAI and Altman. Now, a jury trial is scheduled for March 2026, during which both companies will argue over OpenAI’s transformation and whether it has violated its founding mission.

Elon Musk vs Jeff Bezos

They may not compete much on Earth, but in space, Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin are locked in a bitter battle.

From disputes over NASA launch pads in 2013 to patent fights and public Twitter (now X) taunts, this rivalry has lasted over a decade.

In 2021, legal battles over lunar contracts reignited tensions. When Musk surpassed Bezos as the world’s richest man, he couldn’t resist a jab, promising to send Bezos a silver medal and a giant “#2” statue.

Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg

This tension between these two tech titans dates back to 2016, when a SpaceX rocket explosion destroyed a Facebook satellite.

Zuckerberg criticised Musk’s AI warnings as “pretty irresponsible,” to which Musk replied that Zuckerberg’s understanding was “limited.”

later, during the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Musk deleted Tesla’s and SpaceX’s Facebook pages, later tweeting, “#DeleteFacebook It’s lame.”

In 2021, Musk even implied Facebook played a role in the US Capitol riots, a jab that added another chapter to their long-running rivalry.

Elon Musk vs Bill Gates

In 2020, Bill Gates publicly revealed he bought a Porsche Taycan instead of a Tesla, prompting Musk to call their conversations “underwhelming.”

Gates also criticised Musk’s COVID-19 comments as “outrageous,” mocked his space ambitions, and warned people about crypto hype.

Musk, never one to hold back, trolled Gates on X (formerly Twitter) and made jokes that had nothing to do with EVs or philanthropy, proving some tech rivalries are as personal as they are professional.

Tim Cook vs Mark Zuckerberg

Apple’s Tim Cook and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg have been part of a feud for over a decade.

It began in 2014 when Cook suggested that “when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product,” a not-so-subtle jab at Facebook’s ad-based model.

However, things escalated after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, when Cook bluntly said he’d never be in Zuckerberg’s position.

Zuckerberg reportedly responded by urging his executives to ditch iPhones for Android.

Mark Zuckerberg vs Jack Dorsey

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Zuckerberg have fundamentally different views on how social platforms should operate.

When Facebook refused to fact-check political ads in 2019, Dorsey announced Twitter would ban them altogether.

He also publicly criticised Zuckerberg’s stance on free speech and unfollowed him shortly after.

On the other hand, Dorsey mocked Meta’s rebranding and called Zuckerberg’s metaverse vision “dystopian.”

Zuckerberg, in turn, dismissed Twitter’s capabilities compared to Facebook.