OpenAI has accused Elon Musk of harassment in response to a new lawsuit filed by the Tesla founder. The fresh legal war comes as the Microsoft-backed AI firm is changing its business model into a for-profit one.
Months after abruptly withdrawing a lawsuit against OpenAI without explanation, Musk filed a new lawsuit against the AI company and its CEO Sam Altman on Monday in a northern California federal court.
He alleged his former partners, including CEO Altman, manipulated him into investing in OpenAI, underscoring that it initially started as a nonprofit.
However, Altman lashed back at Musk and denied the allegations in the lawsuit and called Musk's latest complaint claims a "textbook tale of altruism versus greed", The Guardian reported.
OpenAI also urged the federal judge in Oakland, California to dismiss Musk's complaint.
"The suit is the latest move in Elon Musk's increasingly blusterous campaign to harass OpenAI for his own competitive advantage," Altman and the company said in a court filing on Tuesday Bloomberg reported.
From the time that it opened its for-profit subsidiary in 2019, OpenAI has ushered in billions from external investments, such as the one from Microsoft.
The issue among investors of OpenAI and the management is slowly escalating due to the prospect of a possible shift in its business model, which the company is currently weighing. From a nonprofit model, it may be leaning towards a for-profit one.
If the company decides to make the turnaround, it would be able to appease its backers. However, the execution phase would be difficult.
As a part of the transition, the company has already discussed giving a possible equity in the company to Altman, which could have a value of more than $10 billion. The board however has stated that they have not yet discussed the matter.
Musk views the move of the company to a for-profit one enriched the co-founders while draining the assets of the startup.
"OpenAI is dedicated to the safe and beneficial development of artificial general intelligence," the company said in its response in their filing.
"Musk once supported OpenAI in that mission but abandoned the venture when his bid to dominate it failed," it added.
The company was in turmoil for the past year. It previously fired Altman as its chief executive officer, only to rehire him in less than 12 months in the same role. It then reshuffled the board and, in the process, also lost some of its key people like Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder of the company.
However, the ongoing legal battle has not dampened investor interest in the firm. in October, OpenAI raised $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation, making it one of the world's most valuable private companies.
