Home » Business News • US business news » OpenAI Hits Back At Elon Musk After Lawsuit

OpenAI Hits Back At Elon Musk After Lawsuit

By Nithya Bose in Business News, posted March 7, 2024

OpenAI has fired back at Elon Musk’s lawsuit, denying his accusations of moving from its founding principles by establishing a for-profit division.

OpenAI executives, including CEO Sam Altman, released a blog post with past email exchanges with Musk.

The messages appear to highlight Musk's support for integrating OpenAI with his ventures.

They also suggest OpenAI could benefit financially from a merger with Tesla.

The emails from 2018 appear to show Musk had advocated for the company to become closely tied with Tesla.

They suggest Musk viewed the move as a potential financial boost and a strategic move against competitors like Google.

The row stems from Musk's lawsuit alleging OpenAI, which he co-founded and served on the board.

The suit claims the AI firm has strayed from its original mission of developing technology for the greater good by forming a profit-driven arm.

Musk departed OpenAI's board in February 2018.

OpenAI will move to dismiss lawsuit

A year later, the AI developer announced the creation of a for-profit subsidiary with Microsoft as a significant investor.

The move has been criticized by Musk in his legal action.

OpenAI's executives expressed their disappointment over the legal conflict with Musk, whom they once regarded as inspirational.

They plan to seek the dismissal of Musk's breach of contract lawsuit in a San Francisco court, defending the company's evolution and alignment with Microsoft.

Need Career Advice? Get employment skills advice at all levels of your career

Musk's legal claim argues OpenAI has essentially become an exclusive partner of Microsoft, diverging from its open-source ethos and compromising its commitment to humanity.

He also highlighted disagreements over fundraising efforts and control over the organization, revealing his proposal for a substantial investment in OpenAI, which he believed required billions to succeed.

The blog post also addresses the failed negotiations for a merger, with OpenAI resisting Musk's desire for major control and equity.

The AI startup feared it would compromise the mission to develop artificial general intelligence democratically.

Recently, Microsoft has also moved to dismiss a separate lawsuit by the New York Times against Microsoft and OpenAI, accused of copyright infringement.

Follow us on YouTube, X, LinkedIn, and Facebook