New Delhi:
Space and tech billionaire Elon Musk has dragged Sam Altman and OpenAI to court, alleging the company has moved away from its original mission and prioritised profit over public good.Â
The trial began with jury selection on April 27, in a federal courtroom in Oakland, California, and is expected to last around four weeks.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, has sued the company and its leadership, accusing them of abandoning their original mission. He filed a lawsuit against Altman, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, and Microsoft.Â
OpenAI entered into a major partnership with Microsoft to secure funding and the computing power needed to build advanced artificial intelligence systems. Under the deal, Microsoft invested billions of dollars in OpenAI and provides access to its cloud platform, Azure, which is used to train and run AI models.
Musk claims that OpenAI was initially meant to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Instead, he claims, it has shifted its focus toward a profit-driven model. “The goal was to shift the dialog toward being about humanity winning rather than any particular group or company,” Musk said in its court filing, according to the NY Times.
Musk was an early backer of OpenAI, while Altman led the organisation. He departed in 2018, claiming that their paths began to diverge after OpenAI shifted from a non-profit idea to a profit-driven company. He claimed that Altman and Brockman “unjustly enriched” themselves, earning billions as the company grew.
A few months before his departure, Musk wrote in an email, “Guys, I’ve had enough. Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit.” “I will no longer fund OpenAI until you have made a firm commitment to stay or I’m just being a fool who is essentially providing free funding for you to create a startup,” he said.
OpenAI has rejected these claims, arguing that Musk walked away because he was unable to gain control of the company. “This case has always been about Elon generating more power and more money for what he wants,” OpenAI said in a statement. Musk and Altman have both compared their ongoing feud to a Shakespearean drama.
OpenAI, now valued close to $1 trillion, has strongly rejected Musk’s claims and turned the accusation back on him. The company argues that Musk is the one acting out of self-interest.
The court is likely to hear from several key people connected to the case, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former OpenAI scientists Mira Murati and Ilya Sutskever, and former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis.