Elon Musk slams OpenAI’s for-profit shift, but records show he pushed for it first

At the 2025 World Governments Summit, Elon Musk criticised OpenAI for abandoning its nonprofit roots. He said, “OpenAI is going too far by removing its not-for-profit objective. I funded it entirely when it started, nearly $50 million, expecting it to be open source and nonprofit.”

How it started

OpenAI was founded in 2015 with a nonprofit mission. But by 2017, Musk wanted to shift to a for-profit model—on his terms. According to the company, Musk demanded to be CEO, hold 50-60% equity, and control the board.

When OpenAI rejected his demands, he…