Elon Musk has intensified his legal battle with ChatGPT developer OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing the AI company of engaging in anticompetitive behavior and sacrificing safety in pursuit of market dominance.
Bloomberg reports that in a revised lawsuit filed late this week in federal court in Oakland, California, Elon Musk has ramped up his feud with OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman. The amended complaint, which spans 107 pages and includes 26 legal claims, alleges that OpenAI is attempting to monopolize the generative artificial intelligence (AI) market while abandoning its initial commitment to openness and safety.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a non-profit organization, launched his own AI startup, xAI, last year. The billionaire entrepreneur now accuses OpenAI and its major investor, Microsoft, of actively trying to eliminate competitors like xAI by pressuring investors not to fund them.
The lawsuit highlights OpenAI’s transformation from a non-profit focused on benefiting humanity to a for-profit entity backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft and other investors. According to Musk, OpenAI is now racing to complete its restructuring under a two-year deadline, disregarding its original principles of openness and safety.
To support his claims of anticompetitive practices, Musk alleges that OpenAI is attempting to starve competitors of AI talent by aggressively recruiting employees with lavish compensation packages. The company is reportedly on track to spend $1.5 billion on personnel for just 1,500 employees.
Furthermore, Musk expresses concern over OpenAI’s alleged ties to the Department of Defense. The revised complaint states that the company has started contracting with the military and has removed a clause from its usage policies that previously banned the use of its technology for activities with a high risk of physical harm, such as weapons development and warfare.
According to the filing, numerous security researchers are resigning in protest or being forced out, while safety teams are being dissolved to make way for personnel focused on facilitating military contracting.
OpenAI has previously dismissed Musk’s legal actions as part of an “increasingly blusterous campaign to harass OpenAI for his own competitive advantage.” The company has not yet responded to the latest allegations made in the amended complaint.
The revised lawsuit also adds California Attorney General Rob Bonta as a defendant, as OpenAI is reportedly in early talks with Bonta’s office regarding the process of changing its corporate structure.
Read more at Bloomberg here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
