Musk again asks to block OpenAI’s ‘illegal’ conversion to for-profit model

As a seasoned crypto investor who has witnessed the meteoric rise and fall of numerous blockchain projects, I find myself deeply concerned about the latest developments involving OpenAI and Elon Musk. Having invested in both AI chatbots (Grok by xAI and ChatGPT by OpenAI), I can’t help but feel a sense of unease as this legal battle unfolds.


In simpler terms, Elon Musk, a billionaire, has submitted a request to prevent the company that created ChatGPT, OpenAI, from changing its status to a profit-driven organization. Additionally, he has accused OpenAI of participating in questionable business tactics that could harm competition.

In the court filing dated November 30th, Musk claimed that OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, President Greg Brockman, and their stakeholder Microsoft breached the terms of his “initial charitable contributions” by not adhering to the agreed-upon conditions.

Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and was an early board member until he left the company in 2018. 

Since then, he has introduced xAI, a company responsible for AI chatbot Grok. However, he alleges that their business is being impacted negatively by what he perceives as anticompetitive practices on the part of OpenAI.

In simpler terms, “The transformation of OpenAI from a charitable organization to a large, for-profit company has allegedly involved practices that are harmful to competition by definition (per se anticompetitive), violations of its initial mission, and excessive self-interest or favoritism (rampant self-dealing)” is what Musk’s legal team stated.

Via an ongoing sequence of unique collaborations, the two firms have been accused of employing “aggressive tactics,” thereby gaining dominance over approximately 70% of the generative AI market, as stated by Musk’s legal team.

“Microsoft and OpenAI now seek to cement this dominance by cutting off competitors’ access to investment capital, while continuing to benefit from years’ worth of shared competitively sensitive information during generative AI’s formative years.”

Permitting such behavior to persist could negatively impact xAI and the general public, who are growing more apprehensive about AI solutions that seem hasty or unsafe, it was emphasized.

“OpenAI’s illegal deviation from that mission betrays not just Musk, but us all.”

In simpler terms, California’s legislation permits a non-profit organization to transform into a “stock corporation for profit,” but it does not allow such conversion for Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).

OpenAI maintains its fundamental nonprofit status, but has also created a commercial offshoot that can sell shares and recruit top-tier professionals. Yet, these duties will be carried out under the guidance of the nonprofit organization.

According to Musk’s legal team, the most suitable solution is to maintain the charitable nature that remains of OpenAI.

“No objective observer can look at OpenAI today and say it bears any resemblance whatsoever to what it promised to be. Enough is enough.”

CryptoMoon reached out to OpenAI for comment.

OpenAI previously said Musk was harassing the firm in a related October filing.

Ever since starting a rival AI firm called xAI, Elon Musk has attempted to use the legal system to gain an advantage. However, this strategy is likely to fall short; Musk’s lawsuit appears to lack a substantiated claim and should therefore be thrown out.

In June, Musk hinted at potentially banning Apple devices within his businesses due to Apple’s announcement of integrating ChatGPT from OpenAI into their iPhone, iPad, and Mac operating systems. A few months after this incident, Apple introduced Apple Intelligence on October 28th.

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2024-12-02 05:29