Elon Musk Affirms Legal Action Against OpenAI Remains Active


Despite OpenAI’s recent decision to uphold nonprofit oversight, Elon Musk is persisting with his legal action against the organization.

Earlier this week, OpenAI declared it would not move forward with a complete shift to a conventional for-profit model. Instead, it intends to transform its for-profit segment into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), which will be regulated by the current nonprofit body. The nonprofit will also possess shares in the PBC. Nevertheless, Musk and his legal representatives are still skeptical.

“Today’s announcement does nothing to alter the reality that OpenAI will continue creating closed-source AI for the advantage of Altman, his investors, and Microsoft,” stated Musk’s lawyer Marc Toberoff in a comment to Reuters. He criticized the new framework for its lack of transparency, dubbing it a “significantly diminished ownership stake the nonprofit will acquire in Altman’s profit-driven venture.”

Musk, a founding supporter of OpenAI, initiated a lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that the company violated its initial mission to create artificial intelligence for the betterment of society. He contends that OpenAI has misled him by moving towards profit-focused objectives, in opposition to its founding ideals. Musk also recently tried to purchase OpenAI for $97.4 billion—an offer that the organization dismissed, labeling it a “sham bid” and accusing Musk of attempting to sabotage a competitor. Musk is currently operating his own AI enterprise, xAI, which developed the Grok chatbot.

OpenAI’s choice to remain a capped-profit entity signifies a major shift. The organization, now valued at $300 billion, detailed the decision in a blog entry, stating that it followed conversations with community leaders and the attorneys general of California and Delaware. The announcement came in response to a public letter from former OpenAI staff and AI specialists urging authorities to intervene against the restructuring due to worries over public safety.

While OpenAI’s updated framework may have alleviated some of those issues, Musk continues to be dissatisfied. “The founding mission still lies betrayed,” Toberoff informed Bloomberg, assuring that the lawsuit will move forward.