California, Tuesday, March 05, 2024 – Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on February 29, 2024, in the California state court against OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research company he co-founded in 2015, and its CEO, Sam Altman.
Musk says he felt betrayed as he made a substantial donation of $50 million to assist OpenAI in its pursuit of leveraging AI for beneficial purposes initially. Concurrently, he also actively enlisted the expertise of prominent scientists to aid OpenAI in the development of cutting-edge AI technology.
Nevertheless, he says now he feels disillusioned by OpenAI’s change in mission.
The lawsuit accuses OpenAI of breaching its founding principles and a contractual agreement. 1
Musk contends that OpenAI has strayed from its original mission as a non-profit organization focused on developing safe and beneficial AI for humanity.
The lawsuit specifically cites OpenAI’s 2019 partnership with Microsoft, valued at $13 billion, as a key violation. This partnership, according to Musk, contradicts OpenAI’s initial commitment to open-source technology and transparency.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI is withholding crucial details about its latest AI advancements, particularly the code for its newest generative AI products. Musk argues that this secrecy surrounding potentially powerful AI technology like GPT-4 hinders public discussion and oversight.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a court order preventing OpenAI from engaging in activities that deviate from its founding mission. Additionally, Musk is requesting a jury trial and financial compensation from Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman, and potentially others involved, for profits allegedly gained through the violation of the contract.
OpenAI was originally established with the aim of mitigating the potential threats posed by artificial general intelligence (AGI) to humanity. To achieve this, the company established a board of oversight and a policy of publicly releasing the code for its products.
However, the lawsuit argues that OpenAI’s leadership, including Altman and Brockman, deviated from this mission in 2019 with the creation of OpenAI LP, a for-profit subsidiary. This for-profit entity, according to the lawsuit, transformed OpenAI from a non-profit with no financial value to a company valued at $90 billion within a few years. Musk credits Altman as the architect of this financial transformation.
The lawsuit also references a leadership crisis within OpenAI in 2023 that resulted in Altman’s temporary removal. The complaint suggests this ousting stemmed from concerns among board members regarding the risks of advanced AI. However, following Microsoft’s intervention, Altman was reinstated, which the lawsuit interprets as a victory for those prioritizing the commercialization of AI technology.
While Microsoft, a significant investor and close partner of OpenAI, is not named as a defendant, the lawsuit mentions the company extensively—some reports said 68 times.
Musk has previously accused Microsoft of misusing content from his social media company, X, to train its own AI tools and has threatened legal action against them.
The lawsuit portrays OpenAI as a “closed-source de facto subsidiary” of Microsoft, and alleges that under the current leadership, the company is now “refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft” rather than focusing on safety and public benefit.
- Elon Musk: https://www.plainsite.org/dockets/5ctu7zkg5/superior-court-of-california-county-of-san-francisco/elon-musk-v-samuel-altman-et-al/[↩]
