OpenAI has responded to a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk. The suit claims that Musk walked away after failing to gain control of ChatGPT.
The artificial intelligence company has published emails that show the billionaire endorsed the business strategy of the company.
Musk filed a lawsuit against the ChatGPT maker he founded, claiming the organisation was “driven” by commercial concerns and had abandoned its promise to aid humanity.
OpenAI stated in a blog that it would “dismiss Elon’s allegations”, and that Musk was supportive of its pivot for revenue generation due to the cost of developing AGI, the most advanced form of technology.
Musk sent an email saying that the project would need billions of dollars per year or else it was a waste.
OpenAI stated: “We are saddened that this has come to pass with someone we deeply admire — someone who inspired and motivated us to strive higher, told us we would not succeed, launched a competitor, then sued us after we began making significant progress toward OpenAI’s goal without him.”
According to the statement, Musk was attempting to merge OpenAI and Tesla or gain control. He withheld funding as discussions continued over the “for profit” structure. Musk also demanded a majority stake in the company, the control of the board as well as his job as chief executive. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn stepped in to “bridge the gap” and cover salaries and operations during this time.
The Tesla entrepreneur moved on, not getting what he wanted. OpenAI’s statement stated: “Elon quickly chose to leave OpenAI. He said that our likelihood of success was zero and that he intended to build an AGI rival within Tesla. He told his team that he supported us in finding our own way to raise billions of dollars when he left late February 2018.
Musk seemed to be pushing the company for increased investment. Elon suggested that we announce a $1 billion initial funding commitment to OpenAI. The non-profit organization has raised more than $90m from other donors and less than $45m from Elon.
Although Musk and Sam Altman used to be friends, it is believed that their relationship has deteriorated over the last year. Altman’s supporters have claimed that Musk was jealous of the success of ChatGPT, and other OpenAI products, like Sora, a video-generation tool.
Since ‘s runaway success with ChatGPT, the question of OpenAI mission has been a major concern for the company. Altman was abruptly removed from the business during a fraught November 2023 weekend — only to quickly rejoin — due to what appeared to be an issue between the board of directors and the management. Although the reasons for this have not been revealed, those who were close to the situation say it was more about individuals who didn’t get along.
OpenAI’s latest blog stated that its mission is to “ensure AGI benefits the entire human race, which includes both building safe and beneficial AGI as well as helping create widely distributed benefits”. This included the free distribution of its products: “Albania uses OpenAI’s Tools to accelerate its EU Accession by up to 5.5 years,” said it.
OpenAI refuted Musk’s claim that it was not transparent about its technology. Ilya Sukseker, the chief scientist of OpenAI, said to Musk that as we move closer to creating AI, being less open will make more sense. OpenAI is a way to say that everyone should be able to benefit from AI once it has been built. However, it’s OK not to share the science. Musk agreed.
Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI and received a profit share of 49 percent. The partnership gave the AI company the opportunity to use the computing infrastructure of the technology giant, including cloud services.
Recent reports claim that Temasek, Singapore’s government-backed fund, has also been in discussions about investing.
Musk’s lawsuit claimed “OpenAI Inc. has been transformed into an closed-source, de facto subsidiary to the largest technology company on the planet: Microsoft”.
Microsoft does have a seat on the board, but no voting rights.
Microsoft’s AI advancements helped boost the group’s revenues in its second quarter to $62 billion. Microsoft has developed an AI tool, which is integrated into its suite of Excel and Powerpoint products and can create emails, presentations, and meeting summaries. The group has invested in other AI firms.
The Competition and Markets Authority in Britain examines whether Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI indicates a merger that has occurred by stealth. American and European regulators have launched a similar probe.