Sam Altman Details Elon Musk’s Attempts to Control OpenAI
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, has testified that Elon Musk made multiple attempts to gain total control of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT. Altman shared these details while appearing before a federal jury in Oakland, California, where Musk is suing him over allegations related to OpenAI’s transition from a non-profit to a for-profit entity.
Elon Musk’s Vision for OpenAI Control
According to Altman, Musk not only supported the idea of OpenAI becoming a for-profit business but also sought long-term control over the company. Altman recalled a particularly striking moment when Musk was asked what would happen to OpenAI if he were to die. Musk reportedly responded that control might pass to his children.
During the early years of OpenAI, founded in 2015, Musk proposed several ways to increase his influence over the company. These included requests for more seats on OpenAI’s board, the position of chief executive, and even making OpenAI a subsidiary of Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company.
Concerns Over Control and Mission
Altman explained that Musk’s overarching goal was to secure “more money faster” by restructuring OpenAI into a traditional for-profit company. Musk believed his fame and business reputation could attract financial backing, stating that a single tweet from him could significantly increase the company’s value.
Despite these offers, Altman and other OpenAI co-founders, including Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, decided against giving Musk such control. Altman expressed discomfort with the idea, emphasizing that one of the reasons for starting OpenAI was to prevent any single individual from controlling artificial general intelligence (AGI).
AGI refers to AI systems capable of outperforming humans across most tasks, a goal central to OpenAI’s mission.
Musk’s Departure and Subsequent Developments
Musk ultimately left OpenAI in early 2018 and ceased his quarterly $5 million donations. Altman recalled an email from Musk stating that OpenAI had “a zero percent chance, not a one percent chance, of success” without him.
When OpenAI formed a for-profit subsidiary in 2019, Altman offered Musk the opportunity to invest, but Musk declined. According to Altman, Musk refused because he no longer invested in startups he did not control.
