In February 2018, Elon Musk decided to leave OpenAI after an unpleasant meeting with the board of directors, leaving Sam Altman struggling to find ways to secure funding.

After some back-and-forth, he informed Altman that he would be leaving OpenAI.

In fact, if Musk had stayed for another two months, he could have witnessed the GPT-1 – built on the Transformer model – being completed, and perhaps would have changed his mind.

But at that point, Musk was determined to leave. After all futile attempts to keep him, to maintain stability and order within the organization, Altman suggested holding a general staff meeting, giving Musk an opportunity to explain and say goodbye to the members.

Elon Musk’s departure has created many difficulties for Sam Altman. Photo: Sky News.

On a chilly February day, the entire staff gathered in the company’s rooftop meeting room. The meeting began with Altman’s thank-you speech, expressing his appreciation for Musk’s contributions and stating that Musk would be dedicating even more effort to his work at Tesla.

However, during the Q&A session, Musk’s straightforward, even somewhat reckless, style once again came to the fore. He affirmed that he would not leave the AI ​​field and intended to continue pushing related research at Tesla. Musk also criticized OpenAI’s progress as too slow: “I think OpenAI needs to act faster.” In Silicon Valley, “act fast” is a well-known term often used by startups as a slogan to encourage a proactive spirit. The next part of this phrase is breaking the mold, a phrase often displayed on the walls of many tech companies, including Facebook.

At that moment, an intern stood up and questioned, “Elon, that’s irresponsible. Have you ever considered the safety of AI?” Musk immediately became angry, calling the intern—whose name he probably didn’t even know—an “idiot.” Such autocratic situations were commonplace at Tesla and SpaceX, but this was the first time it had happened at OpenAI.

The entire room fell silent. Musk realized he had lost his composure, hastily ended the meeting, and left in a hurry. Most of the OpenAI staff present that day never saw him again afterward.

After the incident, Altman handled the awkward situation gently. He made the intern a trophy engraved with the words “Idiot,” placed it on a small pedestal, and handed it to him. “Sometimes you just have to find your own fun,” Altman recalled, “that’s what forms company culture.”

Shortly after, OpenAI’s official website announced that Elon Musk would be stepping down from the OpenAI Board of Directors, but would continue to provide support through funding and advisory services. The statement explained that, given Tesla’s increasing focus on AI development, this decision would help eliminate potential conflicts Elon might encounter in the future.

To reassure employees and supporters, the announcement also listed a new group of donors. However, anyone observant would understand that, considering both their influence and the depth of their financial resources, these new donors are nowhere near as powerful as Musk.