Elon Musk initiates a legal action against OpenAI, the AI organization he played a pivotal role in establishing back in 2015, alleging a “betrayal” of its foundational mission.
The magnate, who departed from OpenAI in 2018, contends in legal filings submitted in a San Francisco court late Thursday that the entity was originally conceived as a nonprofit venture. However, he asserts that recent alterations in the boardroom dynamics now position OpenAI as essentially an offshoot of the software behemoth Microsoft, deeming this a contractual breach.
Musk has repeatedly asserted that Microsoft wields control over OpenAI, a claim rebuffed by both entities. Antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe are actively probing the associations between these corporations.
Microsoft, recognized as the world’s preeminent company by market capitalization due to its substantial embrace of AI, opted not to provide a statement on the matter.
OpenAI captivated the public’s imagination in late 2022 with the introduction of its conversational agent ChatGPT, capable of crafting poems, essays, and even excelling in examinations.
The organization has also devised tools for generating images and videos, hailed as pinnacles in their respective domains. The triumph of these products has drawn considerable investments into AI, heralded as a force with the potential to revolutionize every facet of human existence.
Microsoft, a substantial investor in OpenAI since 2019, injected billions more into the company last year. The tech giant also intervened when OpenAI’s board ousted CEO Sam Altman in November of the previous year, not only hiring Altman but also extending an offer to accommodate any dissatisfied staff.
The OpenAI board later rescinded the decision, reinstating Altman and affording Microsoft an observer seat after removing dissenting members. Musk’s legal action posits that this reshuffling constitutes a violation of OpenAI’s Founding Agreement, a collection of correspondences between Musk and Altman, and the company’s certificate of incorporation.
The lawsuit contends that Musk played a pivotal role in OpenAI’s establishment, providing decisive funding to lift the nascent nonprofit off the ground and facilitating crucial hires.
“The occurrences of last November are widely acknowledged. It doesn’t appear to me that what transpired was an overt breach of the agreements,” remarked Anupam Chander, Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center.
