Elon Musk\u2019s relationship with Sam Altman and OpenAI has famously soured. In testimony during his lawsuit against the artificial intelligence giant, it became apparent that Musk\u2019s relationship with cryptocurrency has soured, too.<\/p>\n
When asked to explain crypto inside an Oakland courthouse on Wednesday, Musk said, The comment came in response to a question about OpenAI\u2019s short-lived plans to create a cryptocurrency via an initial coin offering, or ICO, to fund the then-nonprofit in 2018. An ICO, which is a play on the term IPO, happens when crypto teams sell tokens to the public. These offerings drew reams of speculative investment in the late-2010s, but the era is largely remembered for the many ICO projects that quickly flamed out<\/a> after raising funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n The ICO plans came<\/a> to light as part of an ongoing legal battle between Musk and OpenAI over the mission of the hugely popular AI firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, claims that the AI company breached its founding contract when it struck an investment deal with Microsoft<\/a> and started selling commercial products. In court, Musk said<\/a> OpenAI \u201c[stole] a charity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n OpenAI has rebutted that Musk always understood that OpenAI could eventually evolve into a for-profit entity. In a blog post, the company claimed<\/a> Musk supported OpenAI\u2019s plan to raise funds via an ICO, which would have involved the creation of a for-profit subsidiary.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s aside on crypto at the OpenAI trial demonstrates the billionaire\u2019s fluid views on digital assets. The Tesla<\/a> CEO was a public champion of the sector during the pandemic-era crypto bull run, and oversaw the company\u2019s purchase<\/a> of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2021, making it an early example of a public company using its balance sheet to buy crypto, a trend that has become increasingly popular in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n At around the same time, Musk\u2019s tweets about the novelty token Dogecoin<\/a> helped the meme token rocket upward in value.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them have merit, but most of them are scams,\u201d according to a tweet<\/a> from New York Times reporter Mike Isaac.\u00a0<\/p>\n