Elon Musk, a prominent figure frequently in the media spotlight due to his innovations and controversies, has decided to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Greg Brockman in California state court. This move concludes the prolonged legal conflict between the co-founders of the AI startup.
The 52-year-old billionaire, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, had initiated legal action against the company in February, alleging a breach of commitment. Originally, OpenAI’s mission was to be a completely nonprofit organization dedicated to societal benefit. However, the company shifted its focus when it began partnering with private entities for commercial gain.
In his court filing, Musk stated, “To this day, OpenAI, Inc.’s website continues to profess that its charter is to ensure that AGI ‘benefits all of humanity.’ In reality, however, OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft.”
The lawsuit further alleged, “Under its new Board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
Musk’s lawsuit demanded a jury trial and sought for OpenAI, along with Altman and Brockman, to return any profits they had accrued. OpenAI, in response, labeled Musk’s claims as “incoherent” and “frivolous” and sought the case’s dismissal.
Furthermore, OpenAI released a blog post revealing Musk’s emails from his time at the company, which indicated that he had previously acknowledged the necessity for OpenAI to generate substantial revenue to advance its AI capabilities. This contradicted his accusations that the company was improperly pursuing profit.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
Musk’s decision to drop the lawsuit came just a day after he publicly criticized OpenAI for mismanaging user data. This criticism followed Apple’s announcement of a partnership with ChatGPT to integrate with Siri on an opt-in basis for users.
