Elon Musk sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, claiming betrayal of its goal to benefit humanity
Associated press — Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, saying it is a betrayal of the ChatGPT creator’s original goals of benefiting humanity rather than pursuing profit.
In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, billionaire Musk said that when he funded the creation of OpenAI, he entered into an agreement with Altman and Greg Brockman, its president, to keep the AI company as a nonprofit that develops technology would develop for the benefit of the public.
Under the founding agreement, OpenAI would also open its code to the public rather than shielding it from a private company’s profit, the lawsuit said.
However, by embracing a close relationship with Microsoft, OpenAI and its top executives have “set that pact on fire” and are “perverting” the company’s mission, Musk alleges in the lawsuit.
“OpenAI, Inc. has transformed into a de facto closed-source subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday. “Under the new management, the company is not only developing an AGI, but also refining it to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
AGI refers to artificial general intelligence, which are general-purpose AI systems that can perform as well (or better) than humans in a wide range of tasks.
Musk is suing for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair trade practices. He also wants an injunction to prevent anyone, including Microsoft, from profiting from OpenAI’s technology.