Musk’s decade-long feud with Altman takes another turn
Elon Musk’s effort to pressure OpenAI and its co-founder Sam Altman in court didn’t go as he planned. A judge threw out the case, saying Musk’s claims were a bit of a stretch, especially after his recent offer.
This ongoing conflict has been going on for almost ten years. Musk has often shown his disagreement with OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, even though they started the company together in 2015.
Recently, things got even more intense when Musk made a huge offer of $97 billion to buy OpenAI. Altman quickly rejected it and instead suggested a much lower price for X (formerly known as Twitter). This situation even caused some tension between Musk and former President Donald Trump, who had given Altman a $500 million government contract for AI work, which Musk didn’t seem to like.
Tensions between Musk and Altman have raised significantly in recent months (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
There’s a lawsuit going on that claims OpenAI, along with Altman and Microsoft, is breaking antitrust laws and straying from its original mission to help humanity. This is why Musk and Altman are not on the same page.
According to the New York Post, Musk’s lawsuit was thrown out by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. She said the prosecution didn’t provide enough evidence for the serious claims they made.
However, she mentioned that because of the public interest and possible harm if something illegal happened, the court is ready to speed up the trial to fall 2025.
This could mean the case might go to a public trial. Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, said they are eager for a jury to confirm that Altman took Musk’s donations knowing they were meant to help the public, not for personal gain.
This situation follows Musk’s initial investment of $45 million in OpenAI as a co-founder, believing it would operate as a nonprofit. When Altman pitched the idea of OpenAI to Musk, he likened it to a ‘Manhattan Project for AI,’ aiming to use artificial intelligence for the good of humanity.
Musk’s attempts to sue OpenAI on multiple fronts have been denied by courts (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Musk has stated that OpenAI’s move to become a for-profit company shows it’s changing from a “tax-exempt charity to a $157 billion profit-driven monster that could disrupt the market.”
In response, Altman has denied Musk’s accusations and shared emails that reveal Musk’s interest in merging OpenAI with Tesla to make it a for-profit entity. Altman believes this is really about competition with Musk.
In a recent interview, Altman mentioned that Musk seems to live his life feeling insecure and added, “I don’t think he’s a happy person. I do feel for him.”
Judge Rogers pointed out that Musk’s recent $98 billion offer for OpenAI actually weakens his arguments in this case, especially those claiming the company could suffer ‘irreparable harm.’
Featured Image Credit: SAUL LOEB / Contributor / Getty