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OpenAI announced its intention to challenge all of Elon Musk's allegations in a blog post. Musk had recently filed a lawsuit against the Microsoft-backed company, claiming breach of contract and asserting that OpenAI had shifted its focus towards profitability rather than its original mission of developing artificial intelligence for the betterment of humanity.
In response, OpenAI stated its plans to contest Musk's claims. According to the blog post, Musk had proposed merging OpenAI with his electric vehicle company, Tesla, suggesting that OpenAI should rely on Tesla as its primary source of funding. However, OpenAI explained that while there were discussions about transitioning to a for-profit model in 2017 to raise capital for developing artificial general intelligence (AGI), they ultimately disagreed with Musk's terms, which included him holding a majority stake, initial control of the board, and becoming CEO.
Musk's lawsuit contends that the founders of OpenAI initially agreed to focus on AGI development with the goal of benefiting humanity. Additionally, he pushed OpenAI to announce a $1 billion funding commitment in 2015, which was a significant increase from the original plan of $100 million set by CEO Sam Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman.
OpenAI expressed disappointment in the situation, stating that Musk, whom they deeply admired and who initially inspired them to pursue ambitious goals, had turned against them by launching a competitor and subsequently suing them when they made substantial progress towards their mission without his involvement.
As of now, neither Musk nor Tesla has responded to requests for comments on the matter from Reuters. This lawsuit represents the culmination of Musk's longstanding discontent with OpenAI, which has become a prominent figure in generative AI, thanks in part to substantial funding from Microsoft. Meanwhile, Musk has founded his own artificial intelligence startup, xAI, which was launched in July of the previous year.
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