Elon Musk briefly backed $10B OpenAI ICO before his departure

Elon Musk briefly supported a plan for OpenAI to raise funds through an initial coin offering (ICO) before leaving the company, CoinDesk reported. Documents detailing early discussions between Musk and OpenAI's founders show that in January 2018, Musk agreed to a proposal for OpenAI to raise $10 billion via an ICO but later withdrew his support. He subsequently resigned from the OpenAI board to focus on artificial intelligence work at Tesla. The media outlet noted that ICOs were a popular fundraising method for startups in 2017 and 2018, driven by regulatory uncertainty and high investor demand. The boom subsided as authorities tightened regulations and the market cooled.