Elon Musk Sought $80B for Mars Ambitions While Pushing for Control of OpenAI, Court Told in High-Stakes Trial

OpenAI’s president testified on Tuesday that Elon Musk supported transforming the artificial intelligence start-up into a for-profit company, but wanted full control in part to help him raise $80 billion to colonise Mars.

The testimony by Greg Brockman came in the second week of a trial in California that could determine the future of OpenAI, which sparked a widespread craze over generative artificial intelligence after launching its ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022.

OpenAI plans to spend $50 billion on computing resources in 2026, Brockman said in court.

Musk has accused OpenAI and Chief Executive Sam Altman of conning him into giving $38 million to the non-profit, only to see it abandon its charitable goals and become a for-profit company to enrich themselves.

The world’s richest person is seeking $150 billion in damages to be paid to the non-profit, and for Altman and Brockman to be removed from their leadership roles. Musk left OpenAI’s board in February 2018.

In his second day of testimony, Brockman said that in 2017 Musk had wanted OpenAI to change its corporate structure because it was too difficult for a non-profit to raise the amount of money required to build advanced AI models.

Brockman said the Tesla and SpaceX founder made it clear that he wanted to become OpenAI’s leader if that happened. Altman was the only other candidate, he added.

Brockman described a particularly intense meeting in which Musk said he deserved a majority stake in OpenAI because of his business experience. Musk said he intended to use that stake to build a self-sustaining city on Mars, according to Brockman.

“He said he needed $80 billion to create a city on Mars,” Brockman said. “In the end, he needed full control.” Brockman added that Musk said he would decide when to relinquish that control.

Brockman said the meeting with Musk in August 2017 started well. He said Musk had recently given Teslas to some OpenAI employees in gratitude for their work, and former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever painted a portrait of a Tesla to present to Musk as a token of thanks.

But, according to Brockman, Musk grew angry when discussing a potential equity structure for OpenAI that he did not like, saying, “I decline.”

Brockman said Musk stood up and walked over so quickly that he feared he might be struck, but instead Musk picked up Sutskever’s painting and stormed out, saying he would withhold new funding until matters were resolved.

Musk’s lawyers have tried to portray Brockman as someone who also saw dollar signs when looking at OpenAI.

On Monday, Brockman testified that his stake in OpenAI is worth almost $30 billion. He also said he holds stakes in two start-ups backed by Altman, and a 1 per cent stake in Altman’s family fund.

Evidence in the case also includes a 2017 diary entry in which Brockman wrote: “Financially, what will take me to $1B?”

In March 2019, OpenAI restructured as a for-profit unit governed by the non-profit, allowing it to accept money from outside investors.

The business has since raised more than $100 billion to hire researchers, buy computing power and expand ahead of a potential $1 trillion initial public offering this year.

OpenAI has said Musk was embittered because he left its board before the company’s success, and now wants control. It also said Musk sued to bolster his own AI company, xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February.

SpaceX may also go public this year, in an initial public offering that could be larger than OpenAI’s.

According to a registration statement, SpaceX’s board in January approved awarding Musk 200 million super-voting restricted shares if its market value reaches $7.5 trillion and it creates a permanent colony on Mars with at least one million people.

 

For any enquiries or information, contact ask@tlr.ae or call us on +971 52 644 3004. Follow The Law Reporters on WhatsApp Channels.