Musk Wanted $80bn to Colonize Mars, OpenAI Chief Testifies

OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified on Tuesday that Elon Musk supported turning the artificial intelligence company into a for-profit business, but wanted full control partly to help him raise $80bn to colonize Mars.

Brockman’s testimony came in the second week of a trial in California that could help determine the future of OpenAI, which helped drive the boom in generative artificial intelligence after launching ChatGPT in late 2022.

OpenAI plans to spend $50bn on computing resources in 2026, Brockman told the court.

Musk has accused OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, of misleading him into donating $38m to the non-profit, only for the company to abandon its charitable goals and become a for-profit business. He is seeking $150bn in damages, with any award to go to OpenAI’s charitable arm, and wants Altman and Brockman removed from their leadership roles.

In his second day of testimony, Brockman said Musk argued in 2017 that OpenAI needed to change its corporate structure because a non-profit could not raise enough money to build advanced AI models. Brockman said Musk made clear that he wanted to lead OpenAI if the change went ahead.

According to Brockman, Musk said he deserved a majority stake because of his business experience and intended to use it to help build a self-sustaining city on Mars.

“He said he needed $80 billion to create a city” on Mars, Brockman said. “In the end, he needed full control.”

Musk left OpenAI’s board in February 2018. OpenAI later restructured in 2019 as a for-profit unit governed by the non-profit, allowing it to accept money from outside investors.

(reuters, bak)