OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an internal message to employees on Tuesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) immigration crackdown “went too far”, becoming the latest executive to express concern about harsh enforcement in Minnesota.
ICE agents shot and killed a protester in Minneapolis over the weekend, the second such shooting this month and sparked widespread public dissatisfaction with the agency's actions. After weeks of silence, more than 60 US CEOs jointly issued a statement calling for de-escalation of the situation.
"ICE has gone too far," Altman wrote in a Slack message to employees, according to people familiar with the matter. "There is a big difference between deporting violent criminals and what is happening now, and we need to clearly distinguish between the two."
"I love America and its values and will do whatever I can to support this country; and so will OpenAI," Altman said in the message. "But part of loving this country also means Americans have a responsibility to resist the overreach of power."
"President Trump is a very strong leader, and I hope he will seize this opportunity to unite the country. I am encouraged by the response over the past few hours and hope that trust can be rebuilt through a transparent investigation," Altman added.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also weighed in on the incident, saying he was "heartbroken" by the events in Minneapolis and called for "de-escalation."
Cook also said he had discussed the matter with U.S. President Trump.
Throughout Trump's second term, many businesses have been reluctant to publicly criticize him. But since the second shooting in Minnesota over the weekend, leaders from companies including 3M, UnitedHealth Group and General Mills have spoken out calling for de-escalation.
On Saturday, more than 450 employees from companies including Google, Meta, Salesforce, and OpenAI signed a letter urging their executives to pressure the White House to withdraw ICE from U.S. cities, cancel all contracts with ICE, and publicly condemn ICE’s violence.