0
0
Elon Musk Drops Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Sam Altman
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has decided to drop his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. This choice comes just before a federal judge was scheduled to determine the future of the case, as reported by CNBC.
In court documents filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Musk’s attorneys requested the breach of contract lawsuit be dismissed without prejudice, leaving room for potential re-filing in the future. Despite this legal move, Musk has not made any public statements regarding the decision.
Musk’s Criticism of Apple and OpenAI
The news follows Musk’s public criticism of Apple’s partnership with OpenAI. On Monday, Musk stated that if Apple integrates OpenAI at the operating system level, he would ban Apple products from his companies due to security concerns.
If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 10, 2024
Earlier in March, Musk initiated the lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, alleging a breach of contract. Musk claimed that the developer of ChatGPT had strayed from its original goal of creating AI for the betterment of humanity.
Musk accused OpenAI of keeping the design of GPT-4 confidential and engaging in exclusive licensing agreements with Microsoft, essentially transforming OpenAI into a profit-driven entity, contrary to its initial humanitarian mission.
While the “Founding Agreement” mentioned in the lawsuit has not been disclosed, Musk’s legal action referenced the company’s California Certificate of Incorporation, which stipulated that the technology developed by OpenAI should benefit the public.
OpenAI responded to Musk’s claims by releasing internal emails suggesting that profitability was also important to Musk. Despite this legal battle, Musk has emphasized his role in recruiting key scientists and engineers for OpenAI.
After OpenAI publicly launched GPT-4 last year, Musk joined other tech leaders in urging a six-month pause on ChatGPT development. Following this, Musk founded xAI, a rival AI developer that introduced its chatbot, Grok, in November.
Despite the withdrawal of the lawsuit, OpenAI continues to face scrutiny over its safety and security practices. Several executives have departed, citing a focus on “shiny products” over careful AI development.
OpenAI recently announced a new safety and security committee, though the committee is led by Altman. Decrypt reached out to OpenAI for comment, but no immediate response was provided.
Image/Photo credit: source url
