Elon Musk tried to take control of OpenAI, even suggesting it could pass to his children when he dies, Sam Altman has alleged in court, the BBC reports.
The co-founder and CEO of OpenAI is being sued by Musk, who accuses him of having “looted a charity” – as OpenAI began as a non-profit. The case is being heard in front of a federal jury in Oakland, California.
On Wednesday, Altman said Musk backed the idea of OpenAI becoming a for-profit business now and in the future.
He said in court: “A particularly hair-raising moment was when my cofounders asked, ‘If you have control, what happens when you die?’ He said something like ‘…maybe it should pass to my children.'”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Image: X
Elon Musk vs Sam Altman
Altman said Musk suggested OpenAI become a subsidiary of Tesla, the billionaire’s electric vehicle company. The goal was getting “more money faster”, Altman said on Tuesday.
“If I make one tweet about this, it’s instantly worth a ton,” Altman recalled Musk saying.
“I was extremely uncomfortable with it,” the BBC reports Altman added.
“One of the reasons we started OpenAI was because we didn’t think any one person should be in control of AGI.”
Musk left OpenAI in early 2018 and ceased his quarterly donations of $5 million.
Top image: Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis with their twins Strider and Azure ; Elon Musk with son X.
Credit : Shivon Zilis/ X ; Elon Musk/ X