OpenAI Leaders Weighed Foreign Funding Plans in 2017
Reports indicate early leadership proposed potential AGI rights auctions involving the US, China, and Russia.
Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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In 2017, OpenAI leaders proposed a plan involving potential AGI funding rights auctions for the US, China, and Russia. Internal records also show a 2020 proposal where Sam Altman offered Kanye West access to GPT-3 before it was blocked.
Why it matters
The internal proposals, which Dario Amodei feared could intensify arms races, illustrate the governance tensions that eventually led to the founding of Anthropic. OpenAI has disputed that the plan was intended to sell AGI to foreign nations.
The 2017 countries plan explored AGI funding through potential rights auctions involving the US, China, and Russia. Additionally, the 2020 proposal sought to grant Kanye West model access to GPT-3 technology.
The players
OpenAI
An artificial intelligence research organization that transitioned from a nonprofit to a commercial enterprise.
Dario Amodei
A former OpenAI researcher who objected to internal governance plans before co-founding Anthropic.
Sam Altman
The current CEO of OpenAI who reportedly offered GPT-3 model access to celebrities.
Anthropic
A competing artificial intelligence company founded in 2021 by former employees of OpenAI.
Kanye West
A high-profile entertainer who was reportedly offered access to the GPT-3 language model.
The details
OpenAI transitioned from its original nonprofit model toward a structure capable of raising capital and selling products. Disagreements over the risks of these proposals, specifically regarding human rights and geopolitical instability, caused friction that prompted staff to depart and form Anthropic in 2021.
Timeline
In 2017, OpenAI co-founders proposed the countries plan.
Dario Amodei formally objected to the countries plan in September 2017.
Sam Altman offered Kanye West GPT-3 access in 2020.
Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers in 2021.
The Tech Race
The reported 2017 discussions demonstrate the lack of formal industry-wide safety guardrails that would later be addressed by modern regulatory frameworks like the Biden Administration's Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development of AI. This historical context highlights how early-stage governance debates paved the way for current structural requirements in the industry.
These internal governance shifts dictated the commercial trajectory of the tools that users now access daily. Understanding these historical choices clarifies why certain safety limitations and commercial filters exist within current AI products.
The takeaway
These events show that early AI governance was heavily influenced by conflicting visions regarding commercialization and international cooperation. Readers should recognize that current product availability and safety standards in AI are the result of these long-standing internal debates.
Further reading
For more on the current industry landscape, visit the Artificial Intelligence section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Crypto Briefing.
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