After OpenAI had just managed to file the latest lawsuit back towards The New York Times on the dismissal of parts of the OpenAI and The New York Times lawsuit, the AI giant are once again facing a new lawsuit. Elon Musk sued OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and their CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that they veered away from the company’s initial goal of developing AI for the betterment of humanity rather than for financial gain.
Compared to the OpenAI and The New York Times lawsuit, this new one faced by OpenAI where Elon Musk sued OpenAI is said to be a relatively fun complaint that touched on some of OpenAI’s fundamental AI development points that poise many to know more on the lawsuit’s details and prompts discussions on OpenAI’s AI developments.
Elon Musk Sued OpenAI: Details on the Lawsuit
Filed in the California Superior Court in San Francisco on Thursday, 29th February, Elon Musk sued OpenAI, representing his longstanding disapproval of the startup he helped establish. OpenAI, now synonymous with generative AI, received significant funding from Microsoft, which has further solidified their position. In response, Musk founded his own AI startup, xAI, which debuted in July last year. You can also discover more about Musk’s xAI and Grok in this article.
In the lawsuit where Elon Musk sued OpenAI, it is claimed that there has been a breach of contract, with Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman initially proposing to establish an open-source, non-profit organisation. However, the startup founded in 2015 has shifted their focus to profit-making endeavours. Musk contends that the three founders of OpenAI originally committed to developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), to benefit humanity through machines capable of performing tasks akin to humans.
OpenAI would counter the efforts of Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which Musk expressed concerns about, believing it was pursuing AGI for commercial gain and presenting significant risks.
However, the lawsuit claimed that in 2023, OpenAI essentially disregarded their founding agreement by releasing their most potent language model, GPT-4 as a Microsoft product. Musk is seeking a court order mandating OpenAI to share their research and technology with the public, and restraining the startup from leveraging their assets, including GPT-4, for Microsoft’s or any individual’s financial benefit.
Elon Musk Sued OpenAI: OpenAI’s Response to the Lawsuit
According to a memo cited by Axios on Friday, OpenAI’s senior executives dismissed multiple assertions made by Musk in his lawsuit. Altman, in a note also reviewed by Axios, acknowledged that the journey was never going to be easy and anticipated continued challenges.
Additionally, Musk is pursuing a legal ruling that would classify GPT-4 and a newer, more sophisticated technology known as Q* (Project Q) as AGI, thereby exempting them from Microsoft’s licencing agreement with OpenAI. Project Q was first announced back then in November 2023, which it’s a powerful AI discovery that warns AI researchers of AI ethics. Do click here to learn more about Q*.
Relationship of Elon Musk and OpenAI
In late 2017, Elon Musk, known for leading electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, SpaceX rocket company, and social media platform X, reportedly attempted to gain control of OpenAI from Altman and other founders. His aim was to transform it into a commercial entity in collaboration with Tesla, leveraging the automaker’s powerful supercomputers, according to a source familiar with the matter.
However, Altman and others resisted Musk’s efforts, prompting his resignation as he expressed a desire to concentrate on Tesla’s AI ventures, with results such as the Tesla Cybertruck revealed last year. Musk announced his departure from OpenAI to the organisation’s staff in February 2018, urging OpenAI to accelerate their development pace, a move deemed reckless by one researcher, as per the source.
Musk did not respond to requests for comment regarding his departure from OpenAI. Subsequently, Musk has advocated for AI regulation on multiple occasions. Giuseppe Sette, president and co-founder of market research firm Toggle AI, expressed scepticism regarding the potential impact of Musk’s actions on AI development within or outside OpenAI, suggesting that Musk’s motives may involve seeking equity in a company he helped establish but does not own a stake in.
OpenAI’s Current Development
2023 and the current ongoing 2024 have pushed OpenAI on the forefront of AI-related developments and discussions as they have been involved in huge events. Collaborations is one of them, and speaking of the collaborations, the first one that comes to mind is definitely the tech giant Microsoft.
Yet, OpenAI’s collaboration with Microsoft is facing antitrust scrutiny in both the United States and Britain following a tumultuous boardroom dispute last year, which led to the sudden removal and subsequent reinstatement of Altman, as well as the establishment of a new interim board. According to the Washington Post, OpenAI intend to name new board members this March, with Microsoft announcing in November their intention to hold a non-voting observer seat.
As for the most current AI developments of OpenAI, they have been constantly focusing on enhancing natural language processing capabilities, such as their ChatGPT and Sora. The latest ChatGPT, with not just the introduction of ChatGPT-4 Turbo, but also the still-under-development ChatGPT-5, is poised to bring on better and better chatbots to assist people in their daily lives. As for Sora, this AI tool aids in video generation with text prompts, bringing generative AI to a new level.
@openai Sora Sunday ❤️ Prompt: fly through tour of a museum with many paintings and sculptures and beautiful works of art in all styles This video was generated by our text-to-video model, Sora, without modification. What would you like to see us make with Sora next? *Sora is not yet available to the public. We’re sharing our research progress early to learn from feedback and give the public a sense of what AI capabilities are on the horizon. #madewithSora #Sora #openai ♬ Pieces (Solo Piano Version) – Danilo Stankovic
Additionally, OpenAI have been exploring applications of AI in various domains, including healthcare, finance, and robotics, showcasing the versatility of their technology across different industries. Overall, OpenAI’s latest AI developments signify significant progress in pushing the boundaries of AI and their practical applications.
Experts’ View on the Lawsuit That Elon Musk Sued OpenAI
However, some legal experts have cast doubt on the validity of Musk’s allegations of contract breach, which are partially based on correspondence between Musk and Altman. While agreements can be formed through email exchanges, the lawsuit highlights an email that seems more like a proposal than a mutual discussion, noted Brian Quinn, a law professor at Boston College Law School. “To the extent Musk is asserting that the solitary email in Exhibit 2 constitutes the ‘Contract’, his argument is unlikely to hold water,” Quinn remarked.
Till the final result is out on the Elon Musk sued OpenAI lawsuit, you can discover other AI-related news on our website.
Read Next: 8 Best GPTs On The OpenAI Store That Will Save Your Time