(The Center Square) – Entrepreneur Elon Musk filed for an injunction against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to keep the AI industry leader a non-profit.
Musk’s motion alleges Microsoft and OpenAI are both blocking investments into xAI, his competing artificial intelligence company, and profiting from his early substantial funding and public support of OpenAI as a nonprofit.
OpenAI maintains Musk sought to transform OpenAI into a for-profit company headed by Musk himself.
Musk has long shared his fears about the possible danger artificial intelligence could pose to humanity, and supported OpenAI on the basis of his belief that the world’s leading AI firm should be dedicated to safety, transparency, and the public good. He has since launched xAI with the goal of surpassing OpenAI.
Musk’s motion alleges OpenAI and Microsoft have violated antitrust laws, especially by allowing investment only by firms that vow to not invest in other AI companies, while profiting from technology developed when OpenAI was a Musk-bankrolled nonprofit.
“Musk made absolutely clear that his donations—which established and sustained OpenAI, Inc. for years—were conditioned on Altman and [OpenAI President George] Brockman’s firm commitment to operate as a non-profit, devoted to the public good,” said the motion.
The motion, filed in California, alleges Altman “approached Musk with a detailed plan to form an AI charity” and promised OpenAI would “remain a non-profit dedicated to the development and broad distribution of open and safe AI for the public benefit, not concentrated for shareholder profit.”
The motion says Musk donated over $10 million to OpenAI based on Altman and Brockman’s promises.
OpenAI then partnered with Microsoft to access the tech giant’s computing power, which led to large Microsoft ownership stakes in Altman’s for-profit enterprises, to which the motion says “he and Microsoft siphoned the non-profit’s staff and intellectual property,” which ultimately “transformed OpenAI into everything Altman promised Musk it would never be—a closed-source, for-profit monopoly, that rushes unsafe AI products to market, for private commercial gain.”
Earlier this year, Microsoft acquired a 49% stake in the profits of OpenAI’s for-profit subsidiary for $13 billion. Musk’s motion says Microsoft and OpenAI now control 70% of the generative-AI market.
OpenAI responded to the motion by referring to an earlier statement detailing its relationship with Musk, and said, “Elon’s fourth attempt, which again recycles the same baseless complaints, continues to be utterly without merit.”
“In late 2017, we and Elon decided the next step for the mission was to create a for-profit entity,” wrote OpenAI. “Elon wanted majority equity, initial board control, and to be CEO. In the middle of these discussions, he withheld funding.”
“We couldn’t agree to terms on a for-profit with Elon because we felt it was against the mission for any individual to have absolute control over OpenAI,” continued OpenAI.
In November 2023, OpenAI’s board of directors fired Altman, citing his conflicts of interest, leading hundreds of employees to say they would leave for Microsoft unless Altman were reinstated. The board members who ousted Altman then reinstated him and resigned, allowing Altman to install new board members.
