Topline
Tesla CEO Elon Musk withdrew a lawsuit against OpenAI accusing it of breaching its fiduciary duty and founding mission, the latest development in ongoing tensions between the world’s wealthiest person and the artificial intelligence company.
Key Facts
Musk pulled the lawsuit, filed in California, one day before OpenAI’s dismissal request was going to be heard by a judge, Bloomberg reported.
Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI alongside its CEO, Sam Altman, alleged in his lawsuit the company was refining artificial general intelligence “to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
OpenAI and attorneys for Musk did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.
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Tangent
Musk dropped the lawsuit just one day after tweeting that the recently announced integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into iPhones was “an unacceptable security violation.” Musk said Apple devices would be banned at his companies if the integration goes through.
Key Background
The lawsuit was filed in March and provoked a public response from OpenAI. The artificial intelligence company said in its early days, Musk acknowledged its need for a for-profit arm to help secure funding—something he would later criticize in his lawsuit. OpenAI also claimed in 2017, Musk wanted to have majority equity in the company’s for-profit arm and be its CEO. Musk left OpenAI the following year over a personal conflict of interest with his work as Tesla’s CEO. Musk has taken issue with OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft, which has invested more than $13 billion into OpenAI, alleging the company has prioritized profits and shareholders over AI safety. Musk tweeted in February that OpenAI has become a closed-source, “maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft.”
OpenAI’s Rebuttal Of Musk Says He Sued After Company Made ‘Meaningful Progress…Without Him’ (Forbes)
Musk Reignites Feud With Sam Altman Over OpenAI’s Ditched Non-Profit Promise (Forbes)
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