one year on
Elon Musk sues OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging betrayal of nonprofit AI mission
The lawsuit claims the company breached its founding agreement by prioritizing profits over public benefit, particularly through its partnership with Microsoft.
Elon Musk filed a lawsuit late Thursday in San Francisco against OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, and co-founder Greg Brockman, alleging they breached the company’s original founding agreement by prioritizing profits over the public benefit mission.
The complaint says OpenAI has become a ‘closed-source de facto subsidiary’ of Microsoft, which has invested about $13 billion into the startup. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and donated over $44 million between 2016 and September 2020, left the board in 2018, claims the partnership with Microsoft violates the original nonprofit charter to develop AI freely for humanity.
The lawsuit also centers on OpenAI’s GPT-4, which Musk claims constitutes AGI, and alleges it was improperly licensed. The suit seeks to compel OpenAI to adhere to its nonprofit mission, bar monetization of AGI technologies, and potentially return Musk’s donations if the court finds the organization now operates for private gain.
OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 triggered a frenzied AI arms race. The lawsuit underscores growing tensions between the company’s original ideals and its massive commercial success.
The record
Altman has previously dismissed Musk's criticisms, saying he is proud of OpenAI's work and believes they are making a positive contribution.
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
The lawsuit would drag on for months, with OpenAI publishing old emails showing Musk had previously endorsed a for-profit structure. The case was eventually dismissed but highlighted the deep rift between Musk and the company he helped found.