Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, reportedly played a key role in OpenAI cancelling its 2018 cryptocurrency initial public offering (ICO), according to a recently published court document. OpenAI’s founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, proposed issuing a token to make the company profitable, but Musk strongly opposed the idea, stating it would result in “a huge loss of credibility for OpenAI and everyone involved.” Musk left OpenAI in 2018 after disagreements and went on to create his own AI company, xAI.
In August 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its founders, among other claims alleging fraud and unfair competition, and Microsoft was added as a defendant in November. OpenAI is now known for its AI developments, such as ChatGPT, but tensions with Musk remain.
