OpenAI Releases Emails Showing Musk Sought Majority Control and CEO Role in 2017

Dec 13, 2024, 08:25 PM

OpenAI has released internal communications indicating that Elon Musk, its co-founder, sought to transform the organization into a for-profit entity under his ownership and leadership. The documents, including emails and text messages from 2017, reveal that Musk proposed taking majority control of OpenAI and assuming the title of CEO. Musk, who claims to have provided almost all of OpenAI's initial funding, left the company's board amid a power struggle in 2018 after his proposal was rejected. OpenAI published these communications in a blog post titled "Elon wanted an OpenAI for-profit," countering Musk's recent allegations and legal actions against the company. The company asserts that Musk initially supported the shift to a for-profit structure before later deeming it "illegal." OpenAI maintains its commitment to a capped-profit model to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits humanity. OpenAI is urging a California judge to dismiss Musk's lawsuit, stating that "you can't sue your way to AGI."