(San Francisco) Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday revived the lawsuit he filed, then initially withdrew, against the co-founders of OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, accusing them of failing to respect the original mission of the artificial intelligence (AI) company.
According to legal documents, filed in a federal court in California, the complaint is “the archetype of the struggle of altruism versus greed.” […] The perfidy and deception are of Shakespearean proportions.”
The filing of the lawsuit comes nearly two months after the Tesla and SpaceX boss, also a one-time shareholder in OpenAI, abruptly withdrew a similar lawsuit against OpenAI and its two founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, accusing him of fraud, conspiracy and false advertising.
Elon Musk had joined OpenAI’s capital in 2015 under the promise that it would be a non-profit structure, but, according to him, Mr. Altman “manipulated and deceived” him, ultimately deciding to ally with the digital giant Microsoft.
“Mr. Altman assured Mr. Trump that the nonprofit aspect would ensure neutrality and focus on safety and transparency for the benefit of all, not just shareholders,” the complaint states, “but this turned out to be nothing more than hot air, the hook for Mr. Altman’s grand scam.”
“As a result, OpenAI, in which Mr. Altman and Microsoft have significant interests, was recently valued at an impressive $100 billion,” the complaint also states.
As a result of their illegal actions, the defendants have been unjustly enriched to the tune of billions of dollars, while Mr. Musk, who co-founded their, in effect, for-profit startup, has been defrauded, as has the public.”
Excerpt from the complaint
OpenAI created a sensation at the end of 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT, which allows texts to be generated on simple written request, before also launching tools for creating images and videos from written instructions, or “prompts”.
Microsoft has backed OpenAI’s multibillion-dollar investments and supported the startup’s leadership when the board sought to fire Sam Altman last November, hiring him and offering to accommodate any employees who didn’t support his departure.
OpenAI’s board eventually reversed its decision, amid the confusion it had generated among the company’s staff, reinstating Mr. Altman, before several board members were replaced.
Since divesting from OpenAI, Elon Musk has been among the leading critical voices, warning of the risks he believes AI poses to the future of humanity.
He launched his own AI company in 2023, xAI.