Thought exercise.. Elon is Evil

Sure, and it's also possible that a tiny invisible teapot is orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mars. As far as I can tell, there's about as much evidence to support that as there is to support this Elon Musk thesis.

And what if it is the case that "Elon is using Open AI as a place to cultivate and exploit research to enrich himself?" How does that make him "evil"? Most people do a significant portion of what they do to enrich themselves in one way or another. Do you think I get up and drag myself out of bed and go to work every day because of how much I fundamentally enjoy my work? F%@# no. While I do mostly enjoy what I do, the truth is I do it to enrich myself, via the paycheck I collect a couple of times a month and the hoped-for year-end bonus.

All of that aside, even if Elon is "enriching himself" via the auspices of OpenAI, it still remains the case that OpenAI is also enriching ALL of us by publishing code, papers, data, etc. that are made freely available to all[1][2].

[1]: https://github.com/openai

[2]: https://openai.com/publications/

> I don’t know if Elon Musk is evil or good or what those words even mean and that is not what I’m asking.

Probably shouldn't word your title like that then.

> Is it possible that Elon is using Open AI as a place to cultivate and exploit research to enrich himself?

Sure, anything's possible. This is a practice held by every member of FAANG and just about every Fortune 500 company. Funding nonprofits who write up product-affirming reports and conduct research that tangentially assists your business is just table stakes at the top of the ladder. With OpenAI, at least the public gets a little bit of kickback.

> Is there definitive proof of the opposite?

What would that look like? Them publishing a report where they officially denounce their founders and run a scorched-earth policy on everyone who's ever made money? Your question lacks context and detail, so the best answer I can give you is "maybe" on all accounts.