Elon Musk, the US government efficiency czar and founder of several tech companies, amended his lawsuit against OpenAI, which he claims abandoned its non-profit roots. New defendants in the complaint filed Thursday in a California district court include Microsoft, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and Dee Templeton, former board member of OpenAI and senior Microsoft executive.
The new plaintiffs would receive a new addition in the amended complaint, which is Shivon Zilis, an executive for Musk's Neuralink and a former board member for OpenAI, along with xAI, an AI company that is owned by Musk.
In the litigation, Musk's lawyers point out that OpenAI was founded by Musk as a non-profit dedicated to safety and transparency; however, led by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman-and with very strong Microsoft influence-the company has apparently migrated course, according to the complaint, "fast becoming a fully for-profit subsidiary of Microsoft."
OpenAI was created as a nonprofit charity, nursed in its early stages by cash, counsel, and contacts from Musk. But under Altman's direction, it has emerged as a for-profit enterprise, the lawsuit alleges, rather than the nonprofit that it initially represented.
Musk's lawyers also allege OpenAI made intentionally calculated moves to quash competition, such as Musk's xAI, by strong-arming investors into not funding similar AI-related ventures.
The lawsuit assails rapid OpenAI metamorphosis-from a tax-exempt charity to a $157 billion for-profit enterprise in just eight years-an effort further criticized as violating many important economic and legal principles. "This unprecedented shift has involved lying to donors, members, regulators, markets, and the public," the complaint reads.
Shivon Zilis, who has resigned from her seat on the OpenAI board in 2023, appears on California's Corporations Code as an "employee injured in the course of an assigned task" and Zilis has worked directly with Musk for whom she was a project lead at Tesla and research lead at Neuralink.
The complaint alleges that the intensified collaboration between OpenAI and Microsoft has created an "opaque web of for-profit affiliates" to strip value from Musk's intellectual property, employees, and connections to extract value. It charges that Microsoft and leadership at OpenAI have exploited Musk's name and the charitable status of OpenAI to promote corporate interests.
Where Musk has for years sounded warnings over AI becoming an existential threat and advocated for decentralization and openness, the lawsuit states that Microsoft's leadership - including CEO Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates - have downplayed the risks. As reported by Musk's legal team, "Nadella and Gates had previously downplayed Musk's concerns by terming it as 'panic' and 'too far off in the future.'"
Microsoft hasn't made a public statement on the amended lawsuit yet.
Read also| UK's Guardian Exits X; Musk Responds, 'They Are Irrelevant'
Read also| Report Highlights India's Semiconductor Sector's Goal to Create 1 Million Jobs by 2026
