Elon Musk files a lawsuit against Sam Altman, OpenAI
Elon Musk has initiated legal action against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that they have deviated from the company’s original objective of developing artificial intelligence for the betterment of humanity rather than for profit.
According to the lawsuit filed on Thursday, Altman and OpenAI’s co-founder Greg Brockman initially approached Musk to establish an open-source, non-profit organization.
Musk’s lawyers argue in the lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, that OpenAI’s focus on generating revenue violates the terms of their agreement. They further claim that the company has kept the details of its most advanced AI model, GPT-4, completely confidential.
As of now, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Musk have not responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but resigned from its board in 2018. He is also involved in leading Tesla, an electric vehicle manufacturer, SpaceX, a space exploration company, and acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022.
Last year, Altman, a serial entrepreneur, was dismissed by OpenAI’s former board, which stated that it was safeguarding the company’s mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity. However, Altman returned to the company shortly after with a new initial board.
According to the Washington Post, OpenAI plans to appoint several new board members in March.
OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, became the fastest-growing software application globally within six months of its launch in November 2022. Its success also prompted Microsoft, Alphabet, and numerous startups to introduce their own chatbots, securing substantial funding in the process.
Since its introduction, ChatGPT has been utilized by companies for various tasks, including document summarization and computer code generation. This has triggered a competition among major tech companies to develop their own generative AI-based offerings.
