Lawyers on behalf of Tesla and Twitter/X boss Elon Musk have filed a civil lawsuit against ChatGPT developer OpenAI and its founders Samuel Altman and Gregory Brockman.
Lodged in the Superior Court of California and alleging breaches of contract, Musk alleges that the founding principles of OpenAI as an organisation that would develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) “for the benefit of humanity” have been lost in favour of maximising shareholder profits.
Lawyers say these principles were breached as OpenAI transitioned into a for-profit entity, focusing on proprietary technologies primarily for the benefit of Microsoft, thus deviating from the original mission.
Musk contributed over $44 million to OpenAI between 2016 and 2020.
“Musk has long recognised that AGI poses a grave threat to humanity- perhaps the greatest existential threat we face today,” wrote Musk’s lawyers.
“His concerns mirrored those raised before him by luminaries like Stephen Hawking and Sun Microsystems founder Bill Joy. Our entire economy is based around the fact that humans work together and come up with the best solutions to a hard task…
“Mr. Musk publicly called for a variety of measures to address the dangers of AGI, from voluntary moratoria to regulation, but his calls largely fell on deaf ears.
“But where some like Mr. Musk see an existential threat in AGI, others see AGI as a source of profit and power.”
It is alleged that the founders and board members of OpenAI breached their fiduciary duties by mismanaging the organisation, prioritising personal and commercial gain over the nonprofit's mission and the interests of its contributors.
Musk has also alleged that OpenAI’s transition away from a non-profit has resulted in unfair competition practices.
“Defendants have engaged in unfair competition and other unfair business practices by soliciting donations from (Musk) and others under the false pretence that all such funds would be used for the Fundamental Purposes articulated in the Founding Agreement,” wrote lawyers.
Musk is currently promoting his own ChatGPT competitor ‘Grok’.
Musk is seeking an undisclosed amount of compensation for his $44 million funding, plus restitution and punitive damages.
Lawyers have demanded a trial before the US courts.