OpenAI has released more details about the lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. OpenAI is now primarily associated with CEO Sam Altman, but the company was originally founded through a collaboration of several AI experts and tech leaders, including Elon Musk. However, the initial cooperation has since deteriorated, and Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI.
The first lawsuit was filed in early March 2024. Elon Musk’s concern: OpenAI was initially established as a non-profit organization. However, Sam Altman is now steering the ChatGPT company towards profit to achieve AGI. Musk withdrew the lawsuit in June 2024, only to refile in August 2024. After this back-and-forth, OpenAI has responded with a blog post using Elon Musk’s own words.
The blog post begins with the statement: “You can’t sue your way to AGI. We have great respect for Elon’s achievements and appreciate his past involvement with OpenAI, but he should compete in the market, not the courtroom.” The blog provides a timeline of events since OpenAI’s founding, suggesting that Musk has always had profit in mind.
According to OpenAI, Musk wanted the organization to focus on profit from the start. In November 2015, before OpenAI’s official announcement, Musk expressed concerns about the original plan. He thought it would be more sensible to run a non-profit alongside a profit-driven OpenAI to gather enough funds for AGI plans. Sam Altman responded that this was not the plan.
In the summer of 2017, the discussion resurfaced. In a meeting between Elon Musk and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, the Tesla CEO noted that starting as a non-profit was a good choice, but it was now time to make OpenAI profitable. Brockman and others at OpenAI agreed and began forming plans for a profit-oriented company.
By fall 2017, these plans took shape. Musk reportedly demanded a majority stake in the company and “initial unrestricted control” over it. He added that he wanted to be the CEO of the profit-driven entity. The other founders denied him the position and control over OpenAI and, ultimately, the AGI goal. However, they expressed a willingness to continue working with Musk under different conditions.
In January 2018, Musk made another proposal that raised concerns among the co-founders. He wanted to merge OpenAI with Tesla to provide the necessary funding and implement AI in electric vehicles. Musk wrote: “OpenAI is on a path to lose to Google. Immediate and drastic measures are needed, or all companies except Google will become irrelevant.”
Sam Altman and the other founders declined and sought other funding options for OpenAI. In February 2018, Musk left the company. During his farewell meeting with the team, he reportedly said he would follow OpenAI’s path with Tesla to generate billions of dollars annually.
Shortly before Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, he wrote to Sam Altman again. His message stated: “I was disturbed when I saw OpenAI’s valuation of 20 billion. I planted all the seeds for it.” OpenAI claims that they have repeatedly offered Musk shares in the company to financially compensate him for his contributions, which he consistently declined.
The impact of OpenAI’s blog post on the legal dispute with Elon Musk remains to be seen. The documents will likely be presented in court if the case goes to trial. Musk has not yet commented on OpenAI’s blog post.