Does Elon Musk Own Part of OpenAI?

A look into Elon Musk's complicated relationship with OpenAI

Funmi Looi Somoye

Funmi Looi Somoye

Last Updated on

Wondering, does Elon Musk own part of OpenAI? Find out below!

Elon Musk, the renowned entrepreneur and visionary behind companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, has long been vocal about his concerns and fascination with artificial intelligence (AI).

In a recent interview with CNBC’s David Faber, he claimed that he is the reason why OpenAI exists. Does this mean he owns a part of OpenAI? Let’s explore now.

Essential AI Tools

Editor's pick
EXCLUSIVE DEAL 10,000 free bonus credits

Jasper AI

On-brand AI content wherever you create. 100,000+ customers creating real content with Jasper. One AI tool, all the best models.

Best Deals

Editor's pick
TRY FOR FREE

Copy.ai

Experience the full power of an AI content generator that delivers premium results in seconds. 8 million users enjoy writing blogs 10x faster, effortlessly creating higher converting social media posts or writing more engaging emails. Sign up for a free trial.

Best Deals

Editor's pick
Only $0.00015 per word!

Winston AI detector

Winston AI: The most trusted AI detector. Winston AI is the industry leading AI content detection tool to help check AI content generated with ChatGPT, GPT-4, Bard, Bing Chat, Claude, and many more LLMs.

Best Deals

Only $0.01 per 100 words

Originality AI detector

Originality.AI Is The Most Accurate AI Detection.Across a testing data set of 1200 data samples it achieved an accuracy of 96% while its closest competitor achieved only 35%. Useful Chrome extension. Detects across emails, Google Docs, and websites.

Best Deals

*Prices are subject to change. PC Guide is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

Does Elon Musk Own Part of OpenAI?

Initially, Elon Musk did own a part of OpenAI. He was one of the initial board members from OpenAI’s inception alongside Sam Altman, the company’s current CEO.

The other cofounders included Ilya Sutskevar, Vicki Cheung, Greg Brockman, and a few others. Musk said that OpenAI wouldn’t exist if it were not for him because he donated a considerable sum to the startup.

In fact as an early investor Musk, claimed that he donated $100 million to OpenAI. However, he then changed his statement a week later. He said that while he doesn’t remember the exact numbers, the donation would be around $50 million.

While Elon Musk was initially a board member and had a part of OpenAI when the company launched in December 2015, he no longer has any part or control over it. This is after he resigned.

After his resignation, Elon Musk stated that he does not own any part of OpenAI. The reason why Elon Musk stepped down has remained a controversy. The initial reason given was that there was a conflict of interest about how to run the company. However, a report from Semafor points out that Elon Musk tried to take over the company.

When Sam Altman and other founders refused that, Musk resigned and stepped down. The reason behind his stepping down from OpenAI’s board members position is unclear, but what’s clear is that he does not own a part of OpenAI now.

In fact, it is said that he is also not happy with how OpenAI is operating now. He wrote an open letter asking OpenAI to halt its operations on creating more powerful systems.

FAQs

When Did Elon Musk OpenAI Part Ways?

Elon Musk resigned from his position at OpenAI in 2018. He resigned and stepped down as a co-founder and a board member.

What Is Elon Musk’s New AI Company Called?

Elon Musk’s new AI venture is called X.AI. He is developing a new language model to rival ChatGPT under this company’s flagship. He has named this AI model “TruthGPT.”