OpenAI Documents Reveal Musk Supported ICO in 2018
Documents from OpenAI show that in mid-January 2018, Musk congratulated the company on its successful fundraising and agreed to raise $10 billion through an ICO, which involved establishing a for-profit subsidiary, claiming that the long-term funding issue had been resolved.
By the end of January, Musk suddenly withdrew his support for the ICO, believing that OpenAI was "destined to fail compared to Google." In February, he concluded that the company could not raise enough funds and subsequently resigned.
At that time, Bitcoin had significantly dropped from its high of $20,000, the ICO bubble had burst, the SEC intensified scrutiny, and the cryptocurrency market entered the early stages of a bear market.
Musk had previously supported crypto assets during the bull market, pushing Tesla to purchase $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2021 and frequently posting to drive up Dogecoin. In 2022, Tesla sold about 75% of its Bitcoin, currently holding approximately 11,509 coins, valued at about $786 million after a $222 million impairment charge in the first quarter, according to regulatory filings.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Musk, as a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, initially committed to providing significant funding and participating in governance. The documents reveal a shift in his stance from early support for the non-profit OpenAI to a complete withdrawal and a focus on Tesla's AGI project. He has previously criticized OpenAI for deviating from its founding agreement.
In terms of capital strategy, Musk supported the establishment of a for-profit subsidiary for OpenAI to issue an ICO to quickly raise $10 billion in January 2018, but he quickly retracted his support at the onset of the crypto bear market, redirecting resources to Tesla's self-developed AGI project. His motivation was to avoid ICO regulation and market crash risks while ensuring direct control over AGI technology, preventing dilution of equity and mission.
Similar to other tech founders in 2018 who abandoned crypto fundraising plans due to the ICO bubble burst, Musk has adjusted his public stance on crypto multiple times at market cycle peaks. OpenAI is currently in a litigation standoff with Musk, while he accelerates independent AGI efforts through xAI.
Essentially, this represents capital concentration: by withdrawing from OpenAI and retracting ICO support, Musk shifted the previously shared AI development resources from open collaboration to a concentrated focus within xAI and Tesla. The mechanism provided by the 2018 crypto market crash allowed him to structurally transfer capital, talent, and computing resources to controlled entities, strengthening his pricing power over core technologies.