Elon Musk has revived his lawsuit against OpenAI, bringing new allegations against the company and its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman. This legal action follows the withdrawal of a previous lawsuit in June.
The earlier lawsuit centered on claims that OpenAI had violated its founding agreement to keep its technology open source. The new complaint, however, adopts a more aggressive stance.
Musk’s legal team alleges that Altman and Brockman “manipulated Musk into co-founding their purported non-profit venture” with promises about OpenAI’s safety and transparency that differentiated it from profit-driven alternatives. The lawsuit even claims that assurances about OpenAI’s nonprofit status were “the hook for Altman’s long con.”
Marc Toberoff, Musk’s lawyer, described the new lawsuit to The New York Times as “much more forceful.” It accuses OpenAI of breaching federal racketeering laws in what is described as a conspiracy to defraud Musk.
The complaint alleges extensive deception, stating that Altman and OpenAI lured Musk into co-founding the organization under false pretenses of AI safety and openness. Musk claims he invested significant resources and recruited top scientists based on these assurances, only to see the company shift towards a profit-making model that compromised its original mission.
The lawsuit details allegations of self-dealing and conflicts of interest by Altman, which Musk argues led to their falling out and compromised OpenAI’s founding principles. Reports of withheld technology and a compromised Board of Directors have raised serious ethical concerns about the company’s operations and future direction.
Additionally, the lawsuit targets OpenAI’s partnership with Microsoft, claiming the contract includes a clause that would revoke Microsoft’s rights to OpenAI’s technology once artificial general intelligence (AGI) is achieved. If proven true, this allegation could have significant implications for the future of AI development and corporate partnerships in the tech industry.
Musk’s legal action seeks damages, restitution, and punitive measures against the defendants for allegedly exploiting his contributions. He is pushing for Altman to be divested of what the lawsuit describes as “ill-gotten gains” from the alleged deception.
The lawsuit goes beyond contractual disputes, invoking serious charges including fraud, breach of contract, wire fraud, and violations of the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act against Altman, Brockman, and OpenAI.
The revival of Musk’s legal battle against OpenAI comes amid increasing scrutiny of AI technologies and their societal impact. As one of OpenAI’s original co-founders, Musk’s allegations carry significant weight and could potentially reshape the narrative around the company’s evolution from a non-profit to a for-profit entity.
It is worth noting that OpenAI has consistently maintained that its transition to a “capped-profit” model was necessary to secure funding for its ambitious AI research and development goals. The company has also emphasized its commitment to developing AI responsibly and beneficially.
The tech community and legal experts will be closely watching this case, given its potential to set precedents for how AI companies are held accountable to their stated missions and founding principles.
