Greg Brockman Testifies on Elon Musk's 2017 OpenAI Departure

Back in late August 2017, the founders of OpenAI met to discuss creating a for-profit branch. Elon Musk wanted to have total authority, but the others were against it. Brockman recalled that when Musk was refused, he angrily remarked, "I decline," grabbed a painting, and stormed out, asking when Brockman would leave too. By February 2018, Musk stopped his donations and left the board, though he kept financing the office until 2020. The conflict arose after an OpenAI model beat a top DOTA II player, making them realize they needed more computing power and that fundraising as a nonprofit wasn't enough. Brockman’s journals indicated that a nasty battle would ensue over the for-profit transition. Musk’s legal team pointed to Brockman’s comment about making a billion as evidence of greed. Brockman now holds shares worth around $30 billion, and the trial is still ongoing.