Elon Musk rekindles dispute with OpenAI cofounders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, by filing a new lawsuit.
Less than two months after withdrawing his initial legal action against the AI startup, Musk’s legal team filed a new lawsuit on Aug. 5, alleging that Altman and Brockman prioritized profits over the public good, going against the founding agreement.
New Lawsuit
Musk claims that Altman and Brockman misled him into co-founding OpenAI under false pretenses, focusing on profits rather than on its initial charitable mission. This conflict is described as a clash between “altruism and greed.”
The lawsuit document revealed that Altman convinced Musk that OpenAI, a non-profit funded by Musk, would attract top scientists and compete with Google’s DeepMind in AI research.
However, Musk alleges that Altman and Brockman redirected OpenAI’s focus towards self-enrichment, exemplified by a lucrative Microsoft partnership. Microsoft obtained a non-voting board seat at OpenAI after Altman’s temporary departure and subsequent return.
Microsoft recently relinquished its observer seat amid regulatory scrutiny. The new lawsuit also includes allegations of racketeering and a breach of OpenAI’s commitment to open-source technology.
Musk initiated the lawsuit to “divest Defendants of their ill-gotten gains.” He co-founded OpenAI in 2015, contributing significantly to its early growth before leaving in 2018.
Since then, Musk has expressed concerns about AI risks and founded a for-profit company, x.AI, working on the open-source AI model, Grok.
