In 2018, Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, rejected a controversial proposal from OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, to launch a cryptocurrency token.
Musk expressed concerns that such an action could tarnish OpenAI’s reputation, as revealed in recent legal filings.
Court documents filed on November 14 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California detail Musk’s objections. The filing states that in January 2018, just a few months after expressing enthusiasm for the organization’s vision in late 2017, Altman suggested an initial coin offering (ICO).
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Musk rejected the proposal, arguing that pursuing an ICO could cause "a massive loss of credibility" for OpenAI and anyone involved. This rejection marked another instance of Musk's disapproval of initiatives led by Altman and other leadership figures within OpenAI.
Despite Musk's resistance, Altman and Greg Brockman allegedly worked behind the scenes to develop plans for converting OpenAI into a for-profit structure. The filing notes that this transition idea followed Musk’s rejection of what his legal team called their "second get-rich-quick scheme".
In a message to Altman and Brockman, Musk made his position clear:
I will no longer fund OpenAI until you have made a firm commitment to stay or I’m just being a fool who is essentially providing free funding to a start-up.
The revived lawsuit, filed on August 5, followed an earlier decision by Musk to drop the case in June. Originally launched in February, the suit alleges that OpenAI violated promises to remain a non-profit.
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