Elon Musk has initiated legal proceedings to block OpenAI from shifting to a profit-oriented business model, alleging that the organization is straying from its original non-profit mission. In response, OpenAI has accused Musk of attempting to undermine the company to slow its progress and favor his own AI venture, xAI. Furthermore, a report by the New York Times suggests that OpenAI believes Musk himself had previously intended to convert OpenAI into a for-profit entity for his own financial gain.
“I’m quite confident that Elon will make the right decisions, and it would be extremely un-American to use political influence to harm competitors while boosting his own ventures,” Altman remarked to the New York Times.
In 2015, Elon Musk, along with Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, and Ilya Sutskever, established OpenAI with the aim of developing artificial intelligence in a manner that would benefit society. However, Musk departed from the company in 2018 after claiming that co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman compromised the non-profit’s ethics by entering into a lucrative agreement with Microsoft, which he believed shifted the focus from public welfare to profit-making.
Following the release of its widely acclaimed ChatGPT in late 2022, and forming partnerships with several commercial entities, OpenAI transitioned into a for-profit organization.
In March, Musk sued OpenAI in a federal court, asserting that the organization had deviated from its founding ethical standards. He later broadened his legal claims and sought a court order to stop OpenAI’s planned organizational restructuring which would separate its non-profit oversight from its business operations. In November, Musk further updated his lawsuit to include Microsoft as a co-defendant, accusing it of directing OpenAI’s focus towards commercial ends.
As Musk is currently leading a rival firm, OpenAI has dismissed his accusations as self-interested and obstructive to their strategic plans. They argue that Musk himself was once in favor of OpenAI adopting a for-profit model.
According to the New York Times, evidence presented by the company indicates that in 2017, Jared Birchall, who manages Musk’s family office, registered a business meant to serve as a profit-making version of OpenAI. Documentation and text messages showed that Musk was seeking a 50% to 60% ownership stake in this new entity, which he claimed was essential to fund an ambitious $80 billion Mars colonization project.
Moreover, OpenAI contends that Musk was looking for personal financial benefits through stock options in the new company structure. These allegations are supported by communications from Shivon Zilis, a former board member and Musk’s liaison. Zilis, who is also the mother to at least three of Musk’s children, has not made any public comments regarding the matter to the NYT.
Despite the ongoing dispute, Sam Altman has voiced his disappointment about the situation with Musk, but remains hopeful that Musk, who now holds a political advisory role in the Trump administration, will act responsibly.
