Elon Musk, the South African-born businessman widely known as the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has dragged OpenAI, an Artificial Intelligence Company before a United States of America court for allegedly transiting to for profit.
Musk, in his third time legal firework against the company, asked the court to stop OpenAI from becoming profit profit-making organisation.
He alleged that the company’s move is “illegal” and warned that its structural change has the potential dominance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the artificial intelligence market.
OpenAI was originally established in 2015 as a non-profit organization with a mission to develop artificial intelligence for the greater good.
However, stakeholders have reacted to its shift toward a for-profit model, wondering the fate of the benefits that the society derives from its existence.
The company recently raised $6.6 billion to become one of the most valuable companies in the world at $157 billion valuation.
Notwithstanding this move, OpenAI’s nonprofit board chairman, Bret Taylor, assured that the company would continue to play a significant role in any restructured entity.
This development, if it eventually happens, Musk argued that it is capable of threatening competitors, including his own AI startup, xAI.
Musk accused OpenAI and its Chief Executive Officer, Sam Altman, of abandoning the nonprofit mission they founded together in 2015.
He said that OpenAI’s acceptance of billions in funding from Microsoft in 2019 signalled toward profit-driven goals, deviating from its original purpose of advancing AI for societal benefit.
According to Musk’s legal team, the artificial intelligence company is now monopolistic, saying it could no longer be switching operations at will.
The global entrepreneur also alleged OpenAI of entering agreements that allegedly violate federal antitrust laws, including deals that Musk claims restrict funding for potential competitors.
This filing for injunction marks Musk’s third attempt to challenge OpenAI’s for-profit trajectory as he has initially filed a lawsuit in California state court in February, withdrew it in June, and refiled it in federal court in Oakland in August.
Aside from praying the court for the order to bar OpenAI’s restructuring, Musk’s motion also aims to block the company from forming exclusive agreements with investors that he argues are anti-competitive.
Meanwhile, the company dismissed Musk’s claims as baseless, expressing commitment to innovation and transparency.
OpenAI spokesperson posited that Musk’s legal case again recycles the same baseless complaints and lacking merit.
According to reports, OpenAI is in early discussions with the California attorney general’s office about its corporate restructuring.
