In 2018, Elon Musk halted OpenAI’s plan to launch an initial coin offering (ICO) 💻🚫, stating that it would severely damage the company’s credibility 💥. Musk believed that being associated with cryptocurrencies could be damaging to the company’s reputation 💔, especially given the field’s association with fraud and speculation 💸. Although OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman had intended to raise money by selling tokens 💰, Musk was strongly opposed to the idea, believing it would cause a “massive loss of credibility” 💡.
The move came at a time when OpenAI was facing financial difficulties 💸, and Musk suggested merging it with Tesla to benefit from his expertise in the field of self-driving cars 🚗⚡. However, Musk resigned from the board of directors in February 2018, which led to tensions with the rest of the founders 🤔, especially after he withdrew a donation that he was supposed to contribute 💵.
After his departure 🏃♂️, OpenAI was transformed into a “limited profit” company in 2019 💼, allowing it to receive funding from Microsoft 🖥️. This shift, which Musk saw as a betrayal of the company’s mission 😡, brought it into a strategic partnership with Microsoft 🤝, much to Musk’s dismay, who saw it as a departure from the company’s original goals 🎯.
In 2024 📅, OpenAI entered into a legal dispute with Musk ⚖️, who accused it of misleading him about its mission and governance 🕵️♂️. OpenAI released a statement accusing Musk of undermining its efforts at a time when he was launching his own AI project, xAI 🤖. Musk continues to warn about the dangers of unregulated AI ⚠️, which is what led him to co-found OpenAI in the first place 🌐.
Elon Musk continues his criticism and moves in the field of artificial intelligence 🔍, adhering to his own vision of "searching for truth" through xAI 🧠.