As Elon Musk attempts to block the continuing transition of ChatGPT manufacturer into a for-profit firm, a conflict between tech luminaries Elon Musk and Sam Altman that has been going on for seven years over who should control OpenAI and prevent an artificial intelligence “dictatorship” is now heading before a federal judge.
In the beginning of this year, Musk, who was an early investor in OpenAI and a board member, filed a lawsuit against the artificial intelligence business, arguing that it had violated its basic goals of being a nonprofit research lab that serves the public good rather than pursuing profits.
Since then, Musk has taken the dispute to a higher level by introducing additional allegations and requesting a court order that would prevent OpenAI from taking further steps toward transforming itself into a business that is run for profit.
In the previous year, the richest man in the world, whose businesses include Tesla, SpaceX, and the social networking platform X, launched his own artificial intelligence (AI) company, which is called xAI. Musk claims that it is up against unfair competition from OpenAI and Microsoft, which is a close business partner of his. Microsoft has provided the enormous processing resources that are required to construct artificial intelligence systems such as ChatGPT.
“OpenAI and Microsoft together exploiting Musk’s donations so that they can build a for-profit monopoly, one that is now specifically targeting xAI, is just too much,” reads Musk’s lawsuit, which contends that the corporations are violating the terms of Musk’s foundational contributions to the charity. xAI is the target of the monopoly.
In its response, which was submitted on Friday, OpenAI expressed its opposition to Musk’s request for an order. The firm stated that the order would “debilitate OpenAI’s business” and mission, which would be to the benefit of Musk and his own artificial intelligence company, and that it was founded on “far-fetched” legal assumptions. In the month of January, a hearing is scheduled to take place in Oakland, California, before the United States District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
In 2017, the budding firm was involved in an internal power struggle that ultimately resulted in Altman becoming the CEO of OpenAI. This conflict lies at the core of the disagreement.
Musk pursued the position of chief executive officer as well, and in an email, he detailed a strategy in which he would “unequivocally have initial control of the company.” However, he stated that this would only be a temporary arrangement.
When two other co-founders of OpenAI stated that he would have an excessive amount of influence as a major shareholder and chief executive if the firm was successful in achieving its aim of developing artificial general intelligence, also known as AGI, which is an artificial intelligence that is superior to human intelligence, he became increasingly frustrated.
Musk has had concerns for a long time about the potential dangers that sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence could pose to humans.
In a 2017 email to Musk, co-founders Ilya Sutskever and Greg Brockman stated, “The current structure gives you a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI. You stated that you don’t want to control the final AGI, but during this negotiation, you’ve shown to us that absolute control is extremely important to you.”
Sutskever and Brockman also expressed worries in the same email, “Honest Thoughts,” regarding Altman’s ambition to become CEO and whether or not he was driven by “political goals.” With the exception of a brief period last year when he was sacked and then reinstated a few days later after the board that removed him was reconstituted, Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO and has stayed there.
The remarks were released by OpenAI on Friday in a blog post intended to present its perspective, highlighting Musk’s early backing of the plan to turn OpenAI into a for-profit company in order to collect funds for the computer power and hardware required by AI.
In September 2017, Musk initially registered “Open Artificial Intelligence Technologies, Inc.” as a public benefit corporation through his wealth manager Jared Birchall. Then followed what Musk called the “final straw,” the “Honest Thoughts” email.
Musk responded by writing, “Either go do something on your own or continue with OpenAI as a nonprofit.” Musk subsequently suggested combining the business with Tesla, according to OpenAI, before stepping down as co-chair of the board in early 2018.
At a New York Times conference last week, Altman was asked about his strained relationship with Musk. He described it as “tremendously sad,” but he also described Musk’s legal battle as a matter of business competition.
Altman remarked, “He’s a competitor and we’re doing well.” During the conference, he also stated that he is “not that worried” about the Tesla CEO’s influence over Donald Trump, the president-elect.
Altman will personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, according to OpenAI on Friday. Altman is joining a number of tech CEOs and companies who are trying to strengthen their ties with the next administration.
