Elon Musk’s Take on Gabe Newell and Jeff Bezos in OpenAI Drama
The ongoing drama between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, co-founders of OpenAI, has unveiled a treasure trove of old documents, shedding light on the early days of the company. One of the surprising highlights? Gabe Newell’s significant role in the venture. Back in 2018, Newell, known for co-founding Valve, generously backed OpenAI with a whopping $20 million and served as the lone member of its “informal advisory board.”
Recently, a set of emails from January 31, 2018, was made public, revealing discussions among key figures including Musk, Altman, and others regarding the future of OpenAI. In one email, Greg Brockman informed Musk that he and Ilya Sutskever had been successful at garnering interest from top investors, hinting at a promising future for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) within the next decade.
As the conversation progressed, Brockman laid out a list of potential board members, including names like Reid Hoffman, Gabe Newell, and Adam d’Angelo. Musk chimed in the next day, giving a resounding thumbs up to Newell and the other two, while stressing the importance of attracting talent from tech giants like Google and DeepMind to ensure OpenAI’s success.
However, the most spicy part of the emails comes when Musk turns his attention to Jeff Bezos and his space venture, Blue Origin. Musk didn’t hold back, comparing OpenAI to Blue Origin and criticizing Bezos for being out of touch with the competitive landscape. He even mentioned losing a talented engineer to Blue Origin, only for that engineer to later return to SpaceX, disillusioned with their operations.
Musk’s disdain for Bezos is a recurring theme in these conversations, with some emails even referring to the Amazon founder in less-than-flattering terms. Meanwhile, Newell’s involvement with OpenAI has been known since 2018, but these recent documents provide additional insight into his advisory role. Nowadays, Newell appears to have stepped back from OpenAI, reportedly spending more time on his luxurious superyacht, valued at around $500 million!
Interestingly, Musk has always been a fan of Valve, even contemplating naming OpenAI after the iconic character Freeman from Half-Life, believing it embodies the aspirations of the company. The interplay between these tech titans continues to be a fascinating spectacle for anyone interested in the future of technology and gaming.