Elon Musk and OpenAI's "Billion-Dollar Funding Plan": From Supporting ICOs to Full Withdrawal

BrokenDAO · 2026-02-11T18:23:43+00:00

In 2018, Musk proposed raising funds for OpenAI through cryptocurrency tokens but abandoned the idea due to difficulty in achieving the goal and conflicting with the mission. Ultimately, OpenAI secured funding through traditional financing, reflecting the actual funding trends in the AI industry.

BrokenDAO

2026-02-11 18:23:43

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In early 2018, Elon Musk briefly supported a bold fundraising idea: raising about $10 billion for OpenAI through the issuance of cryptocurrency tokens. This idea emerged during the peak of the cryptocurrency market and reflected the AI companies’ strong desire for funding at the time. However, this “token dream” ultimately did not materialize, and Musk eventually stepped away from OpenAI.

Why Did OpenAI Consider Token Financing During the 2017-2018 ICO Boom?

During the prosperous 2017-2018 cryptocurrency market, many projects raised funds through ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). OpenAI faced a very real dilemma: although as a nonprofit organization its mission was noble, its spending rate was rapid. As an AI research organization, OpenAI needed substantial funding to support its research teams and computing resources. Against this backdrop, the idea of raising funds via token issuance emerged as a seemingly feasible option given the market environment at the time.

Why Did Musk Abandon the Fundraising Plan and Turn Away?

However, Musk quickly changed his mind. He assessed that it would be difficult to raise enough funds through tokens to support OpenAI’s long-term operations. More importantly, he believed this fundraising approach might conflict with OpenAI’s mission. Subsequently, Musk shifted his focus to Tesla’s artificial intelligence projects, completely abandoning the fundraising idea.

Looking back, this episode appears as a “timely correction”: OpenAI ultimately secured sufficient funding through traditional financing methods, and the path of cryptocurrency tokens proved not to be a long-term solution for AI companies’ funding struggles. Musk’s decision, to some extent, foreshadowed the real direction of funding in the artificial intelligence industry.

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