Elon Musk’s ongoing legal feud with OpenAI escalated Friday as new court filings revealed emails suggesting he once advocated for the very for-profit structure he now seeks to block. According to Axios, the emails show Musk pushed for a for-profit model in 2017 where he would hold majority control, contradicting his current claims about preserving OpenAI’s nonprofit mission.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but later distanced himself, filed a lawsuit in August to stop the company from transitioning to a traditional corporate structure. OpenAI, in response, released internal communications showing Musk proposed incorporating a public benefit corporation and demanded “unilateral absolute control” over any AGI (artificial general intelligence) developed by the organization. When OpenAI rejected his terms, Musk reportedly walked away, predicting the company’s failure.
“His own words and actions speak for themselves,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post cited by Axios. “In 2017, Elon not only wanted, but actually created, a for-profit as OpenAI’s proposed new structure. When he didn’t get majority equity and full control, he walked away.”
The filing also included a 2017 email from OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever to Musk, expressing concerns about Musk’s intentions. “The current structure provides you with a path where you end up with unilateral absolute control over the AGI,” Sutskever wrote, according to Axios. “We are concerned that as the company makes genuine progress towards AGI, you will choose to retain your absolute control despite current intent to the contrary.”
Musk’s lawsuit marks his fourth legal attempt in less than a year to challenge OpenAI, which has surged to prominence with its ChatGPT technology. Meanwhile, Musk has launched xAI, a competing AI venture, leading some to speculate that his actions are driven by competitive motives.
