Elon Musk sues OpenAI and Sam Altman again

Elon Musk, who had sued OpenAI once at the end of February 2024, sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman again in August 2024.

Elon Musk sues OpenAI, Sam Altman for making a “fool” out of him | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/openai-wouldnt-exist-without-me-elon-musk-says-reviving-lawsuit/

At the end of February 2024, Elon Musk sued OpenAI, a company he helped launch as one of its major investors. In his lawsuit, Musk claims that OpenAI, which was supposed to have been launched as a non-profit organization, has in fact 'turned into a de facto closed-source subsidiary of Microsoft, the world's largest technology company.'

Musk claims that when he launched OpenAI, he signed a founding agreement to keep OpenAI a non-profit organization and its technology open source. However, after he and Musk parted ways, OpenAI partnered with Microsoft and no longer released any of its developed technologies as open source. Therefore, Musk claims that OpenAI violated the founding agreement. Musk asked the court to force OpenAI back into a non-profit organization that develops open source software and to issue an injunction prohibiting Sam Altman and Greg Brockman from using OpenAI or its assets for financial gain or for the benefit of Microsoft or any other entity.

Elon Musk sues ChatGPT developer OpenAI, claiming it is a 'de facto subsidiary of Microsoft' - GIGAZINE

In response, OpenAI argued that there was no founding agreement as Musk claimed. Some media outlets also reported that there was no legal basis to support Musk's claims . In addition, OpenAI also claims that Musk wanted either a merger between OpenAI and Tesla or to acquire a majority stake in OpenAI, gain control of the board of directors, and become CEO.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, sued by Elon Musk, says 'Elon wanted absolute control over OpenAI' - GIGAZINE

Musk then dropped the lawsuit in June 2024.

Elon Musk drops lawsuit against OpenAI - GIGAZINE

On August 5, 2024, Musk revived his lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that Altman and his co-conspirators 'exploited Musk's humanitarian concerns about the existential crisis posed by AI' and 'betrayed the founding agreement with Musk to pursue personal gain.'

The lawsuit alleges that Altman and his team transitioned OpenAI from a non-profit to a for-profit organization, stating, 'Altman set the bait, lured the mask with false altruism, and then, when it appeared that the non-profit's technology was approaching artificial general intelligence (AGI) and was likely to be profitable, he flipped the script and used OpenAI as his own personal piggy bank, using it to make billions of dollars.'

In addition, the complaint states, 'The idea Altman pitched to Musk was that a nonprofit funded and supported by Musk would attract world-class scientists, conduct cutting-edge AI research and development, and decentralize the technology by open sourcing it as a meaningful counterweight to Google's DeepMind in the race to develop general artificial intelligence (AGI). Altman assured Musk that the nonprofit would be neutral and focused on safety and openness for the benefit of humanity, not shareholder interests. But in the end, this was all a fantasy charity and Altman's long-running fraudulent trap.' It also claims that CEO Altman has not kept the numerous promises he made to Musk, and that this is a fraudulent act by him.

Furthermore, Musk also claims that if he had not provided funding for OpenAI in the five years since its launch, 'it is no exaggeration to say that OpenAI would not have existed.' In addition, Musk also wrote that CEO Altman repeatedly approached him with plans to transition OpenAI to a commercial model, but he stuck to his own moral values and continued to insist that OpenAI remain a non-profit organization.

However, OpenAI partnered with Microsoft in 2023 and began exclusively licensing GPT-4 to Microsoft. In addition, OpenAI began offering paid services and 'stopped releasing research and development results, including the architecture, hardware, training methods, and training details of GPT-4, GPT-4T, and GPT-4o, as open source,' Musk pointed out. This also violates the founding agreement with Musk.

Musk is seeking maximum damages for alleged fraud, breach of contract, false advertising, unfair competition, and other violations by OpenAI. In addition, Musk is asking the court to determine whether OpenAI's latest models should be deemed AGI and therefore invalidate Microsoft's license.

The lawsuit states, 'Musk provided significant funding and resources to the founding and maintenance of OpenAI, on the condition that the company remain non-profit, share its technology openly with the public, and not concentrate power in the hands of a few.' 'Defendants repeatedly accepted Musk's donations to develop AGI, but had no intention of honoring the terms of their agreement with Musk after AGI was realized, including that GPT-4, GPT-4T, and GPT-4o would all remain closed source, and that Defendants have actively sought to turn OpenAI, which was not a non-profit, into a fully for-profit company.'