OpenAI court battle exposes Musk’s Mars ambitions

OAKLAND: OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified in a California court that Elon Musk initially supported transforming OpenAI from a nonprofit organization into a for-profit company but later pushed for complete control of the firm as part of his broader vision to build a self-sustaining city on Mars.

The testimony came during a major legal battle over the future of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, which sparked the global generative AI boom after its launch in late 2022.

During the court proceedings Brockman revealed that OpenAI plans to spend nearly $50 billion on computing infrastructure in 2026 as the company continues expanding its artificial intelligence capabilities and research operations.

Musk has accused OpenAI and Chief Executive Sam Altman of misleading him into contributing $38 million to the organization while it was operating as a nonprofit entity, only for the company to later shift toward a profit-driven structure.

Musk is seeking $150 billion in damages and has also requested the removal of Altman and Brockman from leadership positions. He stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018.

According to Brockman, Musk believed OpenAI’s nonprofit structure would make it difficult to secure the massive investments needed for advanced AI development. He testified that Musk wanted to lead the company if its corporate structure changed and argued that his business experience justified majority control.

Brockman also described a tense 2017 meeting in which Musk allegedly became frustrated during discussions over OpenAI’s ownership structure and threatened to withhold additional funding until the matter was resolved.

Court proceedings further revealed that Brockman’s stake in OpenAI is currently worth nearly $30 billion, while the company has raised more than $100 billion since restructuring into a for-profit subsidiary in 2019.

OpenAI maintains that Musk became unhappy after leaving the company before its commercial success and is now attempting to regain influence. The company also argues that Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI is connected to the broader dispute.

According to court documents SpaceX has approved a compensation plan that could award Musk 200 million additional shares if the company reaches a $7.5 trillion valuation and successfully establishes a permanent human settlement on Mars.