Oakland, Calif., May 5 (Reuters) - OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified in court on Tuesday that Elon Musk supported turning the AI startup into a for-profit company but wanted total control of it, partly to help him raise $80 billion to colonize Mars.

During a plea by one of OpenAI's lawyers, Brockman said that in 2017 Musk wanted OpenAI to change its corporate structure because it was too difficult for a non-profit organization to raise the money it needed to build sophisticated artificial intelligence models.

Brockman said that Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, made it clear that he wants to become president of OpenAI if that happens.

He explained that Sam Altman, the current CEO of OpenAI, was the only other candidate.

Brockman recounted a meeting where Musk became very agitated, demanding a controlling stake in OpenAI because of his corporate experience. Brockman quoted Musk as saying he intended to use that stake to build a self-sufficient city on Mars.

Brockman added that Musk "said he needs $80 billion to build a city" on Mars.

He continued, "Ultimately, he needed total control," noting that Musk said he would be the one to decide when he relinquished full control of the company.

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company on the grounds that it had improperly transformed into a for-profit company and abandoned its philanthropic goals, demanding that it revert to being a non-profit organization.

This trial, which has entered its second week in a California courtroom, may well determine the future of OpenAI, which launched a revolution in generative artificial intelligence after producing the ChatGBT chatbot in late 2022.

Brockman told the court that OpenAI plans to spend $50 billion on computing resources in 2026.