Elon Musk has taken legal action to prevent OpenAI from transforming into a for-profit entity, accusing the organization of abandoning its founding mission. Now, OpenAI is fighting back, claiming that Musk is trying to harm the company to set it back and benefit his xAI, a competing artificial intelligence venture. In addition, according to new york timesOpenAI claims that Musk wants to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company and reap financial benefits.
Altman told the New York Times: “I firmly believe that Elon will do the right thing, and it would be very un-American to use political power to hurt competitors and benefit his own business.”
Sam Altman. Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 to advance artificial intelligence in a responsible way for the benefit of the masses. Musk subsequently left the organization in 2018, claiming that OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman violated the nonprofit’s principles by entering into a multibillion-dollar partnership with OpenAI. Microsoft. Musk claimed that this approach puts profits before the public interest and violates the company’s original intentions.
After launching the highly successful ChatGPT in late 2022 and partnering with several commercial companies, OpenAI became a for-profit organization.
In March this year, Musk filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing OpenAI of violating founding principles. He has since expanded his claims and requested a preliminary injunction to halt OpenAI’s planned reorganization to separate its nonprofit governance from operational decision-making. Musk also amended the lawsuit in November to name Microsoft as a defendant, accusing the company of shifting OpenAI’s priorities toward commercialization.
Since Musk now runs a competing entity, OpenAI calls his claims self-serving and damaging to its development plans. One of OpenAI’s arguments is that Musk has previously advocated for the organization to adopt a for-profit structure.
According to the New York Times, the company provided evidence that Jared Birchall, the head of Musk’s family office, registered a company in 2017 with the intention of becoming a for-profit version of OpenAI. Musk is seeking a 50% to 60% stake in the proposed entity, which he claims is needed to fund an $80 billion plan to colonize Mars, documents and briefings show.
Additionally, OpenAI alleges that Musk seeks personal financial gain through equity compensation in the new structure. These claims are supported by information from Shivon Zilis, an early board member and Musk liaison. Zillis is also the mother of at least three of Musk’s children. She did not comment to The New York Times.
Despite the escalating conflict, Altman expressed sadness about the fallout from Musk and said he believed Musk acted ethically due to his political influence as a Trump administration adviser.