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OpenAI is suing Elon Musk over claims he has tried “nonstop” to slow down its business for his own benefit.<\/p>\n
The company accuses the Tesla boss of using “bad-faith tactics” against OpenAI to help him control cutting-edge AI technology.<\/p>\n
Mr Musk sued OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman last year in a bid to stop him from changing its corporate structure. He co-founded OpenAI with Mr Altman but left several years ago. <\/p>\n
The countersuit opens up a new front in the high-stakes – and long-running – battle between two Silicon Valley heavyweights, who both say they are acting in the best interests of OpenAI and the public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit,” OpenAI said in a statement on Wednesday. “Today, we countersued to stop him.”<\/p>\n
Last week, a federal judge in Oakland, California, set a March 2026 trial date in Mr Musk’s suit in a bid to fast-track the legal fight.<\/p>\n
US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers previously declined to grant Mr Musk an injunction that would temporarily halt OpenAI’s conversion from a non-profit to a for-profit company.<\/p>\n
She also said that she expected Mr Musk to give evidence in the case.<\/p>\n
Mr Musk alleges that OpenAI strayed from its founding mission as a non-profit to develop AI for the benefit of humanity and is therefore in breach of contract.<\/p>\n
He left the company in 2018.<\/p>\n
“This is about control. This is about revenue. It’s basically about one person saying, ‘I want control of that start-up’,” said Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University.<\/p>\n
Lightman said it has been a distraction from making AI safe and equitable.<\/p>\n
“That takes a backseat with all this rigmarole over control and monetization,” Lightman said.<\/p>\n
OpenAI claims Mr Musk has “been spreading false information about us,” in a X post on Wednesday, adding “Elon’s never been about the mission. He’s always been about his own agenda.”<\/p>\n