Elon Musk Sues OpenAI, Sam Altman For Compromise, Alleges Breach Of Contract

On 29 February 2024, Elon Musk, former board member of OpenAI, filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging a breach of contract and accusing it of straying from its original mission.  

Musk contends that OpenAI has transitioned from an organisation focused on public welfare to a profit-driven entity serving Microsoft's interests.

In the lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Musk claims that OpenAI, Inc. has become a closed-source subsidiary of Microsoft, developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) systems primarily to maximise profits for Microsoft rather than benefiting humanity.

He accuses OpenAI of breaching its foundational agreement, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices and demands that it revert to its original status as an open-source platform.

"OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft. Under its new board, it is not just developing but is refining an AGI to maximise profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity," the Tesla CEO said in the lawsuit.

Musk alleges that Microsoft intervened to retain Altman as OpenAI CEO after attempts to remove him last year. Musk claims that board members who sought Altman's removal were compelled to resign by Microsoft, resulting in a board lacking sufficient expertise in AGI and AI public policy.

He asserts that Microsoft now holds significant influence over OpenAI, evident from a reserved observer seat on the board exclusively for the tech giant.

"OpenAI, Inc.’s once carefully crafted non-profit structure was replaced by a purely profit-driven CEO and a Board with inferior technical expertise in AGI and AI public policy. The board now has an observer seat reserved solely for Microsoft," states the lawsuit.

Musk's ties with OpenAI soured in 2018 over disagreements regarding the advancement of GPT-4 and the potential risks associated with AGI technology. 

He resigned from the OpenAI board due to concerns about the safety implications of such technology.