Musk ranted in court: Most cryptocurrencies are scams! Revealed that OpenAI once planned to raise money via ICO in its early days

📄Full Article· Automatically extracted by trafilaturaGemini 翻譯1701 words

The lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against OpenAI for deviating from its non-profit mission officially began this week. While testifying in court, Musk revealed that OpenAI had considered raising funds through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) in its early days, a move he strongly opposed, telling the jury bluntly: "Most cryptocurrencies are scams." (Previous coverage: Musk demanded 51.2% stake and SpaceX as salary — OpenAI founding emails exposed in court) (Background: Musk strives to win back advertisers! X launches new "AI Ad Platform," with 2026 revenue projected at $2.46 billion) The "former partners turned foes" drama that has shocked the global tech community officially kicked off at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California. The lawsuit, filed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, officially opened on April 29, 2026. Musk appeared in person as the first witness for the plaintiff. Unexpectedly, during the intense courtroom debate, cryptocurrency became one of the focal points. During the trial, lawyers from both sides engaged in fierce arguments over OpenAI's early financing history. Evidence shows that around 2017, in order to bridge the massive funding gap required to develop AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), the OpenAI team discussed various financing options, which surprisingly included the ICO (Initial Coin Offering), a trend that was red-hot in the crypto space at the time. Regarding this, Musk explained to the jury why he strongly opposed it back then. He stated bluntly: "Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams." Musk pointed out that he explicitly vetoed the proposal for OpenAI to issue a cryptocurrency because the plan "sounded a bit scammy." Elon Musk explaining what cryptocurrency is to the jury: "Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams." this is responding to early emails where OpenAI discussed holding an ICO, or initial coin offering, in order to fund the company. (back then, ICOs were en vogue…) — rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) April 29, 2026 The fuse for this lawsuit stems from the dispute over OpenAI's shift from a "non-profit organization" to a "capital behemoth." Looking back to 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman and others with the original intention of preventing AI from being monopolized by a few giants (such as Google). Musk was also the largest early benefactor, donating nearly $38 million. However, after Musk left the board in 2018, OpenAI established a for-profit subsidiary in 2019 and accepted tens of billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft, embarking on a path of closed-source commercialization. In court, Musk slammed OpenAI for having become a "de facto subsidiary" of Microsoft and demanded damages of up to $130 billion to $150 billion, requesting that the funds be returned and used for genuine charitable causes. OpenAI, in turn, accused Musk of trying to suppress a competitor (referring to xAI, founded by Musk), with both sides accusing each other of betrayal and hypocrisy. Interestingly, although Musk scoffed at ICOs in court, his own history with cryptocurrency is deeply intertwined and full of contradictions. During the pandemic, Musk was the biggest "shiller" in the crypto space and led Tesla to spend $1.5 billion to buy Bitcoin in 2021. However, Tesla sold off 75% of its holdings during the 2022 bear market, causing it to partially miss out on the violent bull market that saw Bitcoin break through the historic high of $125,000. According to Tesla's latest financial report for the first quarter of 2026, the company currently holds 11,509 BTC. Despite the regret of exiting early, based on current market prices, the asset is valued at approximately $786 million. Compared to the initial purchase cost of about $386 million, Tesla still holds a massive unrealized gain. The trial is currently ongoing and is expected to last for several weeks. This verdict will not only determine the ownership of hundreds of billions of dollars in damages but could also directly impact the subsequent IPO plans for OpenAI, which is valued at over $800 billion.

Data Status✓ Full text extractedRead Original (動區 BlockTempo)

🔍Historical Similar Events· Keyword + Asset Matching6 items

2026-04-30

Sam Altman: OpenAI aims to be a "permanently low-margin" large-scale infrastructure, high profits are simply unrealistic

Similarity 120%關鍵字 openai同分類 zh

2026-04-30

$3,100 principal turns into $23 million! "ICO whale" moves 10,000 ETH after 11 years of dormancy

Similarity 120%關鍵字 ico同分類 zh

2026-04-30

Bloomberg: Anthropic is in talks for a new funding round at a $900 billion valuation, potentially surpassing OpenAI

Similarity 120%關鍵字 openai同分類 zh

2026-04-30