Brockman Testifies Musk Wanted OpenAI Control for $80B Mars City

OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified Tuesday in a California federal courtroom that Elon Musk, a co-founder of the artificial intelligence company, supported converting it to a for-profit entity in 2017 but demanded full control to raise $80 billion for a self-sustaining city on Mars.

The testimony came during the second week of Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI in Oakland, accusing the company of abandoning its original nonprofit mission to pursue profits. Brockman, questioned by OpenAI attorney Sarah Eddy, recounted discussions from 2017 when Musk argued that a nonprofit structure hindered fundraising for advanced AI development. Musk positioned himself as the sole candidate to lead the restructured company over then-board member Sam Altman, now OpenAI's CEO, Brockman said.

Brockman described an August 2017 meeting that began cordially, with Musk having recently gifted Teslas to OpenAI staff and receiving a painted portrait of a Tesla from former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. Tensions escalated over equity proposals, Brockman said. Musk demanded a majority stake, citing his business expertise, and stated he needed $80 billion to build a Mars city. "In the end, he needed full...