OpenAI Once Discussed Auctioning AGI to China and Russia, Report Claims
A new excerpt from Kevin Roose's upcoming book claims that OpenAI executives discussed a controversial plan in 2017 to auction rights to a future AGI system to governments, including the US, China, and Russia. The proposal reportedly emerged during a period of financial uncertainty as OpenAI searched for new funding after Elon Musk began distancing himself from the company. Internally known as the "countries plan," it was based on the belief that governments might eventually seize AGI from private companies anyway. Dario Amodei strongly opposed the idea, warning that it could intensify geopolitical arms races, enable human rights abuses, and damage OpenAI's moral credibility. The dispute became part of a broader series of disagreements between Amodei and OpenAI's leadership, including concerns over GPT-3 access decisions and Microsoft's investment terms. OpenAI disputes parts of the account, saying it briefly explored an international cooperative model but never considered selling AGI to China or Russia. Amodei ultimately left OpenAI in 2020 alongside several colleagues to launch Anthropic, now the company's biggest AI rival. The revelations offer a rare look into the ideological battles that helped shape today's AI industry and one of Silicon Valley's most significant corporate feuds.