Musk Says He ‘Was a Fool’ to Fund OpenAI
NEW YORK — Elon Musk told The New York Times he “was a fool” to provide early funding to OpenAI, escalating his public attacks on the artificial intelligence company he co-founded nearly a decade ago.
The remarks represent the latest development in a dispute between Musk and OpenAI that has played out in courtrooms, on social media and in competing boardrooms. Musk, who donated approximately $44 million to OpenAI in its early years, has become one of the organization’s most vocal critics as it pursues a conversion from its original nonprofit structure to a for-profit entity.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab dedicated to developing artificial intelligence safely and making it broadly available. He departed the board in 2018. Since then, OpenAI has undergone a transformation — partnering with Microsoft, launching the widely adopted ChatGPT and pursuing a corporate restructuring that would allow it to raise tens of billions of dollars in private capital.
The billionaire entrepreneur has challenged that transformation through litigation, filing suit against OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, alleging the company abandoned its founding mission. A federal judge in California has allowed portions of the case to proceed, though key claims have been narrowed.
Musk’s criticism of OpenAI comes as he builds his own rival AI venture, xAI, which has raised billions in funding and developed the Grok family of large language models. Critics have argued that Musk’s legal and public campaign against OpenAI is motivated at least in part by competitive interests rather than purely philanthropic concern.
OpenAI has pushed back against Musk’s characterizations, previously releasing internal communications it said showed Musk had supported the idea of a for-profit structure before his departure. The company has argued that its transition is necessary to attract the capital required to pursue its mission of developing artificial general intelligence safely.
The dispute has drawn attention from regulators and lawmakers examining AI industry governance. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been reviewing OpenAI’s proposed conversion, and the outcome could set precedent for how AI organizations structure themselves as the technology attracts large amounts of private capital.
Musk’s latest comments add to an ongoing conflict with broad implications for the AI industry. Legal proceedings are expected to continue into 2026, with potential consequences for OpenAI’s valuation — recently reported at more than $300 billion — and its ability to complete its corporate restructuring.
