OpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday, accusing him of a pattern of harassment and asking a federal judge to block any “further unlawful and unfair action” against the company as part of an ongoing legal battle.
Musk had originally co-founded OpenAI along with the current CEO Sam Altman in December, 2015. However, in 2018, Musk departed before OpenAI reached its current level of prominence. Instead, he went on to create his own AI firm xAI which he recently merged with the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), acquired by Musk in 2022.
Musk has been engaged in a legal battle with OpenAI for over a year, with him accusing OpenAI of deviating from its original mission of developing AI for public good rather than profit. Altman refuted these claims, saying Musk originally supported plans to make OpenAI a for-profit entity.
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OpenAI also claimed that it needed to transition into a for-profit entity because its nonprofit structure wouldn’t be able to support the realization of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). In order for OpenAI to secure the entire $40 billion of its current fundraising round, the company must complete its transition by the end of the year.
“Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk’s more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI,” OpenAI wrote in a filing in Musk’s existing lawsuit against OpenAI in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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OpenAI asked the judge to stop Musk from any further attacks, as well as be “held responsible for the damage he has already caused.”
Musk’s legal team responded by referring to a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid earlier this year from a Musk-led consortium, which OpenAI rejected. “Had OpenAI’s Board genuinely considered the bid as they were obligated to do they would have seen how serious it was. It’s telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI’s assets allegedly ‘interferes’ with their business plans,” Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff said in a statement provided to Reuters.
OpenAI claimed in an X post, that Musk’s actions were “just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit.”