Musk left the board in 2018 after a reported power struggle over who would be CEO amid complaints by some of OpenAI’s co-founders that Musk aimed to acquire “absolute control” over any future superhuman A.I.
Musk’s buyout offer could complicate OpenAI’s role in Project Stargate, a recently announced joint partnership of OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with promises to invest up to $500 billion dollars to grow A.I in America.
If completed, the deal would give Musk, who helped found (and fund) OpenAI in 2015, unprecedented influence over the direction of the rapidly advancing A.I.
firm called xAI, swiftly took legal action against OpenAI, alleging that it had betrayed its principles in order to “cash in” and was violating the terms of Musk’s original donations to the non-profit.
The rivalry came to a head in September 2024, when it was reported that Altman was planning to completely convert OpenAI into a public benefit corporation.
