Elon Musk Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Founder Sam Altman: Accusing Them of Prioritizing Microsoft’s Interests over Human Welfare

Elon Musk Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Founder Sam Altman: Accusing Them of Prioritizing Microsoft's Interests over Human Welfare

Elon Musk Files Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Founder Sam Altman: Accusing Them of Prioritizing Microsoft's Interests over Human Welfare

Contents
Toggle
Musk Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman
Accuses GPT-4 of Reaching AGI Level but Choosing to Remain Closed Source
OpenAI Board Infiltrated by Microsoft
According to the Courthouse News Service, Tesla CEO Musk has filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing OpenAI and its founder Sam Altman of betraying the organization’s initial agreement to prioritize the development of technology for the benefit of humanity, and stating that OpenAI’s recent relationship with tech giant Microsoft has compromised the organization’s original commitment to public, open-source Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Musk writes in the lawsuit:
Specific allegations made by Musk include breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices. In the lawsuit, Musk not only demands that OpenAI return to being open-source, but also seeks a court order to prohibit OpenAI, President Gregory Brockman, CEO Sam Altman, and Microsoft from profiting from the company’s Artificial General Intelligence technology.
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is an AI model designed to autonomously perform tasks at the level of human cognition, and it has always been OpenAI’s ultimate goal. Musk points out that this goal has been realized in GPT-4, which was released in March 2023. However, according to Musk, unlike previous versions, GPT-4 has been changed to closed-source for commercial reasons, rather than for the benefit of humanity.
Musk notes that only OpenAI and Microsoft know the internal details of GPT-4. Therefore, GPT-4 is the opposite of “Open AI,” as it is closed-source for proprietary commercial purposes (with Microsoft profiting greatly by selling GPT-4 to the public), and the purpose cannot be achieved if OpenAI is required to make the technology freely available to the public.
“Contrary to the founding agreement, the defendants chose to use GPT-4 not for the benefit of humanity, but as proprietary technology to maximize profits for one of the world’s largest companies.”
In his lawsuit, Musk also specifically highlights the events surrounding Sam Altman’s termination and rehiring in 2023. Musk claims that Altman’s termination prompted Microsoft’s intervention and forced board members who were trying to remove him to resign. Musk alleges that the current board members are no longer scientists and researchers who support and understand this technology. Musk states:
Musk was an original member of OpenAI’s board but left in 2018, citing conflicts between the board and Sam Altman over the development of GPT-4 and potential next-generation AGI technology, which Musk feared could pose risks to public safety.
Although Microsoft is not listed as a defendant in this lawsuit, it obtained exclusive licensing rights to the OpenAI GPT-3 language model in 2020. Microsoft insists that it still has rights to GPT-4 because it has not reached the level of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Musk believes that Microsoft’s control over Sam Altman and the OpenAI board will prevent them from claiming that GPT-4 has achieved AGI level in order to maintain the privatization and profitability of the technology.