Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging a departure from the organization’s original nonprofit goals.
Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, contends that the company’s collaboration with Microsoft, valued at $13 billion, and its decision to keep the code for its latest generative AI products confidential, violate OpenAI’s founding principles.
The complaint, lodged in California state court on Thursday, accuses Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman, and OpenAI of breaching their contractual obligations and seeks restitution of profits derived from these actions.
Initially founded as a safeguard against the perceived threats of artificial generative intelligence (AGI), OpenAI operated under a transparent model where product code was made public and subject to oversight by a board of directors.
However, in 2019, Altman, Brockman, and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever established OpenAI LP, a for-profit subsidiary within the organization. This move saw OpenAI’s valuation skyrocket to $90 billion, with Altman being credited for the company’s transformation.
The lawsuit also references a leadership crisis in 2023 that led to Altman’s temporary removal from the company amid concerns about AI risks. After intervention by Microsoft, Altman was reinstated, prompting Musk to view the event as a victory for those seeking to commercialize AI technology.
Musk’s lawsuit asserts that OpenAI has strayed from its nonprofit mission and become a de facto subsidiary of Microsoft, with significant implications for AI development.
While Microsoft is not named as a defendant, the lawsuit highlights its pervasive influence on OpenAI and the potential conflict of interest arising from their partnership.
Musk’s departure from OpenAI in 2018 did not quell his concerns about AI’s existential risks. In the complaint, he portrays the current leadership as prioritizing profit over ethical considerations, reflecting a broader debate within the tech industry about the future of AI development.
