Elon Musk may sue OpenAI, accusing the ChatGPT maker of abandoning the company's original mission as a nonprofit, but Josh Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and one of the company's major investors, He has nothing but good things to say about companies around the world. the richest man.
“I have deep admiration and respect for Mr. Elon,” Mr. Kushner said at the Fortune Global Forum last week.
His position may not be surprising. Slive is an investor in SpaceX, and Kushner has family ties to Donald Trump, whom Musk helped elect. Kushner is the younger brother of the president-elect's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Indeed, when asked whether he would be more concerned about investing in OpenAI now that Musk has so much influence in the incoming White House, Kushner took the opportunity to praise Musk's political intentions. Ta. (Earlier last week, Trump appointed Musk to co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.)
“In my interpretation, [Musk’s] “His excitement to join government is driven largely by his desire to do right by everyone,” Kushner said. “I have great confidence that he will always do what he thinks is right for all Americans.”
Musk is doing more than just suing OpenAI, which he helped found and donated $44 million to. Last year, he launched xAI, a competitor to OpenAI.
Kushner's lawsuit names OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman as defendants; He did not want to emphasize the conflict between him and Mr. of
“I'm sure that both Sam and Greg have a deep respect and immense gratitude for everything Elon has done, not just for OpenAI, but for the world and humanity,” Kushner said. he said.
Two days after Fortune interviewed Kushner, Musk filed an amended complaint that also named Microsoft, current director Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI director and Microsoft vice president Dee Templeton as new defendants. Named.
It should be noted that many venture capital firms often seek to avoid supporting direct competitors as part of their conflict of interest policies. However, it is also true that many investors would be willing to back the most competitive AI companies if given the chance. For example, Sequoia was an early backer of OpenAI and a major investor in xAI.
Thrive was OpenAI's latest round of $6.5 billion in funding, valuing the company at $157 billion. Kushner's fund will contribute $1.3 billion of this capital, with $750 million coming from its own funds and $550 million from other sources through special purpose vehicles, the New York Times reported. Funded by investors. Thrive also reportedly has the option to invest an additional $1 billion in OpenAI next year at the same $157 billion valuation if the company meets its $11.6 billion revenue goal. Thrive is not listed as an investor in xAI or OpenAI's direct competitors, according to its Pitchbook profile.
Mr. Kushner's public praise of Mr. Musk shows how unwilling he is to rock the boat between the executives of two high-profile companies in his portfolio. Perhaps Mr. Musk's claims did not come out of nowhere. Officials told Reuters in October that OpenAI asked investors to avoid supporting a specific list of other AI companies, including Musk's xAI.
In the latest complaint, Musk's lawyers claim that OpenAI is now “actively seeking to eliminate competitors” like xAI by “extracting commitments from investors not to provide funding.” are.
In August, Thrive raised $5 billion across two funds. A $1 billion early-stage fund and $4 billion for investing in later-stage companies. The company was founded in 2009 and has $15.5 billion in assets under management, according to PitchBook data.