Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company he co-founded in 2015. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that OpenAI has strayed from its original mission of developing safe and beneficial artificial intelligence (AI) for the public good and has become increasingly focused on profit-driven ventures.
Musk, who lately hasn’t been holding up to sea against major tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, and Google, claims that OpenAI’s recent partnership with tech giant Microsoft has fundamentally compromised the company’s core principles. The lawsuit argues that this partnership has led OpenAI to prioritize the development of general artificial intelligence (AGI) for Microsoft’s financial gain rather than focusing on open-source research and development for the benefit of humanity.
The lawsuit details several accusations against OpenAI, including:
- Breach of contract: Musk alleges that OpenAI has violated its founding agreement, which stipulated a commitment to open-source AI development.
- Breach of fiduciary duty: The lawsuit claims that OpenAI’s leadership failed to uphold its duty to act in the organization’s best interests and original mission.
- Unfair business practices: Musk argues that OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft gives the tech giant undue influence and creates an unfair advantage in AI development.
As part of the lawsuit, Musk is seeking several remedies, including:
- Reversion to open source: He demands that OpenAI revert to its original commitment to open-source AI development and make its research freely available to the public.
- Injunction against profiting: The lawsuit seeks to prevent OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, and Microsoft from profiting from any technology derived from the alleged misuse of OpenAI’s resources.
- Removal of leadership: Musk also calls for removing Altman from his position as CEO and reinstating the previous board of directors.
OpenAI has yet to publicly respond to the lawsuit. However, this legal battle will spark significant debate within the AI community and beyond. The core issues raised by Musk regarding the balance between profit and ethical development in AI research are complex and far-reaching, with potential implications for the future of artificial intelligence and its impact on society.
The case marks an escalation in the one of the highest-profile clashes in the emerging field of AI, pitting two of its most prominent players against each other. It will have implications not just for OpenAI, which is seeking to raise funds at a valuation of $100 billion or more, but also for Microsoft, which has invested about $13 billion in OpenAI. The Seattle-based firm’s shares have soared 68% in the last year, making it the most valuable company in the world, as it seeks to become a leader in AI adoption.
Musk is suing for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and claims of unfair business practices, among other grievances. He is bringing the suit in the capacity of a donor to the non-profit parent organization as recently as 2019 and is seeking to force OpenAI to stop benefitting Microsoft and Altman personally.
In the lawsuit, he asks for an order to compel OpenAI to make all of its research and technology open to the public and for Altman to be required to give up any money he has earned as a result of the practices alleged to be unlawful. Musk is also seeking unspecified damages, which the lawsuit says he would contribute to charity if any compensation is won.
Musk invested tens of millions of dollars in OpenAI, as well as as well as his time and other resources, “on the condition that OpenAI would remain a non-profit irrevocably dedicated to creating safe, open-source AGI for public benefit,” only to then have OpenAI abandon its mission, according to the suit.
Since introducing ChatGPT and GPT-4, the large language model that powers the chatbot, OpenAI has set off a wave of AI adoption in businesses around the world. Microsoft has been one of the most aggressive in incorporating the technology into its wide array of cloud and enterprise services. Musk contends that OpenAI’s GPT-4 can be viewed as an AGI system. Altman expects AGI to be reached in the next four to five years, according to a December Time Magazine profile of him.