Elon Musk of $TSLA is suing OpenAI, $MSFT and its CEO Sam Altman, saying the company behind ChatGPT has diverged from its original, nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft for $13 billion
Elon Musk of $TSLA is suing OpenAI, $MSFT and its CEO Sam Altman, saying the company behind ChatGPT has diverged from its original, nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft for $13 billion and keeping its code for its newest generative AI products a secret
Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015, has since departed to establish his own AI company, xAI. In a complaint filed Thursday in California state court, he alleged that OpenAI's partnership with Microsoft violated the organization's founding charter, constituting a breach of contract. Musk is seeking a jury trial and requesting that the company, along with co-founder Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, repay the profits they earned from the venture.
OpenAI was established as a response to the perceived significant threat artificial generative intelligence (AGI) posed to humanity. The company instituted a board of overseers to evaluate any product it developed, and its code was made publicly available.
However, Altman, Brockman, and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever formed OpenAI LP in 2019, a for-profit entity operating within the larger organization. This for-profit arm propelled OpenAI's valuation from nothing to $90 billion in a short span of time, with Altman widely recognized as the architect behind the strategy and instrumental to the company's success.
OpenAI did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.
The lawsuit also references a significant leadership crisis last year, during which Altman was temporarily removed from his position, reportedly due to concerns from several board members regarding the risks associated with artificial intelligence. Following a period of uncertainty and Microsoft's intervention, Altman was reinstated, seen as a triumph for those advocating for the commercialization of AI technology.
Thursday's lawsuit reiterates this assertion.
"The public remains uninformed about the specific findings of the Board's 'deliberative review process' that led to Mr. Altman's initial termination," the complaint stated. "However, one thing is clear to Mr. Musk and the general public: OpenAI has forsaken its 'irrevocable' nonprofit mission in pursuit of financial gain."
While Microsoft, which has made substantial investments in OpenAI and maintains a close partnership with the startup, is not named as a defendant in Musk's lawsuit, it is mentioned 68 times in the complaint.
A significant portion of the lawsuit revolves around Microsoft's apparent influence over OpenAI and its financial position. Musk has previously threatened legal action against Microsoft, accusing the company of using content from his social media company, X, to train Microsoft's AI tools.
"OpenAI, Inc. has evolved into a closed-source de facto arm of the world's largest technology company: Microsoft," the lawsuit stated. "Under its new Board, it is not only developing but refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft."