New court filings unsealed today in Musk v. Altman reveal a suppressed chapter in OpenAI’s history: a 2018 plan to launch a $10 billion Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The documents, part of the escalating legal battle in the Northern District of California, show Elon Musk personally torpedoed the token launch proposed by CEO Sam Altman, warning it would destroy the non-profit’s reputation.
The ‘Scamworthy’ Veto
According to the unredacted communications, Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman pushed for the token sale in January 2018 to solve the lab’s desperate capital shortages. At the time, ICOs were raising billions for protocols like EOS and Telegram. Musk’s rejection was absolute.
“It would simply result in a massive loss of credibility for OpenAI and everyone associated with the ICO.”
Musk characterized the move as “scamworthy” in follow-up exchanges, forcing the board to abandon the idea. Instead, he counter-proposed a merger with Tesla, a move he argued would solve the funding gap using the automaker’s balance sheet. When the board rejected the merger, Musk resigned in February 2018, withdrawing a planned donation.
Market Reaction & Irony
The revelation highlights a sharp pivot in Musk’s crypto stance, from viewing tokens as credibility-killers in 2018 to backing Dogecoin payments at Tesla years later. Markets reacted mutedly to the historical disclosure. Worldcoin (WLD), Altman’s current identity-focused crypto project, drifted sideways to $0.55 (-1.3%), showing no correlation to the legacy dispute.
The filings are likely to be used by Musk’s legal team to argue that Altman has prioritized profit-seeking mechanisms over safety since the organization’s infancy.
