Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the originator of ChatGPT, and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging a divergence from the company’s initial objective of developing artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of humanity without commercial motive.
Musk states that Altman and Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s co-founders, initially approached him about establishing an open-source, non-profit corporation.
According to the complaint filed in San Francisco on Thursday, Musk claims that OpenAI, which is supported by Microsoft, departed from its original commitment by prioritizing business over philanthropic goals.
The legal action emphasizes the alleged breach of contract and claims that OpenAI kept the design of GPT-4, its most sophisticated AI model, hidden from public view.
OpenAI, Microsoft, and Musk have not yet responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left its board in 2018, is well-known for his role in a variety of projects, including electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, rocket company SpaceX, and the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October 2022.
Notably, Altman, a serial entrepreneur, was dismissed from OpenAI’s previous board last year, with the board emphasizing its commitment to preserving the company’s purpose of developing AI for the benefit of humanity. Altman later returned to the corporation and formed a new original board.
According to a story in the Washington Post, OpenAI is planning to select several new board members in March.
ChatGPT has been the fastest-growing software program since its launch
ChatGPT, built by OpenAI, quickly gained global traction, becoming the fastest-growing software program within six months of its November 2022 launch.
Its success sparked the development of competing chatbots from large firms such as Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as other startups that raised significant funds to capitalize on the generative AI boom.
Since its introduction, ChatGPT has found use in different industries, from summarising documents to generating computer code, prompting a competitive race among Big Tech companies to introduce their own AI offerings.