{"id":27401,"date":"2026-05-05T02:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/27401\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T02:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:46:09","slug":"openai-president-grilled-over-his-30-billion-personal-stake-and-duty-to-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/27401\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI President grilled over his $30 billion personal stake and \u2018duty to humanity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

OpenAI Group PBC co-founder and President Greg Brockman today disclosed in an ongoing landmark trial<\/a> that his stake in the company is worth close to $30 billion, a windfall Elon Musk has invoked in his argument that the company sacrificed its original nonprofit mission.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s civil lawsuit alleges that Altman and Brockman (pictured) swerved from the path of the company\u2019s founding goal<\/a> of becoming a nonprofit for the common good but later turned into moneymaking venture without Musk\u2019s consent.<\/p>\n

Brockman, who said he never personally invested any money in the venture, was asked on the stand to explain his fortune \u2013 a number that would now place him reasonably high up on the Forbes\u2019 list of the world\u2019s richest people. Brockman testified that the original mission was the same, despite the board selling equity stakes to investors.<\/p>\n

When asked by Musk\u2019s lawyer Steven Molo about the $30 billion and the $852 billion company\u2019s ostensible nonprofit mission, Brockman replied, \u201cCompensation was certainly secondary to the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI\u2019s attorneys produced evidence of text messages sent by Musk to Brockman two days before the trial started. Musk had written he was trying to \u201cgauge interest in settlement,\u201d, after which he warned that if the trial went forward, \u201cyou and Sam [Altman] will be the most hated men in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyers argued that such words were evidence that rather than seeking a legitimate grievance about a for-all-mankind entity becoming a capitalistic venture, Musk, the co-founder of rival AI firm, xAI, was always only trying to stifle a competitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tends to prove motive and bias, and, in particular, that Mr. Musk\u2019s motivation in pursuing this lawsuit is to attack a competitor and its principals,\u201d the layers said.<\/p>\n

In what was a combative day for both sides, one that didn\u2019t put tech billionaires in the best light, Molo compared Brockman to a \u201cguy who robs a bank,\u201d a comment Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers struck as argumentative. In a separate statement Molo claimed Brockman had created a \u201cmoney-making machine\u201d when he started transferring money out of OpenAI\u2019s charitable operation to the for-profit arm.<\/p>\n

Brockman responded by saying in 2018 when he was given his stake, there was no sign OpenAI would ever become financially successful. It was long before the company\u2019s chief product, ChatGPT, was created. He also asserted that the company is still a nonprofit foundation, but that it was agreed from the beginning that there would be a for-profit arm in the spirit of the public good.<\/p>\n

Musk, he said, was no longer making donations by 2017 and he left the board a year later. \u201cThat is something that we\u2019ve built through blood, sweat and tears, during all these years since Elon left,\u201d Brockman added.<\/p>\n

When he was asked by Molo if his $30 billion stake contradicts his \u201cduty to humanity,\u201d Brockman fired back, \u201cNo, I believe that we have developed the most well-capitalized nonprofit in human history.\u201d The money, he claimed, was always an after-thought in the larger scheme of things.<\/p>\n

Photo: Flickr<\/a><\/p>\n

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