Elon Musk at a Neuralink event. Image: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The X owner dropped a lawsuit against the AI start-up this summer but promptly picked it up again.
Tech giant Microsoft has been named as a defendant in Elon Musk’s amended lawsuit against OpenAI.
Musk, who is the world’s richest person, was one of the original founders of OpenAI, which was established as a non-profit organisation in 2015. However, he left the company in 2018 following disagreements about its direction.
It was first announced back in February that the Tesla and X owner would be suing OpenAI and Sam Altman for profiting from artificial intelligence (AI).
“OpenAI has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft,” the lawsuit filed on 29 February read.
Musk and his lawyers argued that the objective of the lawsuit is to compel OpenAI to adhere to the founding agreement and return to its mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, not for profit.
In July, Musk’s lawsuit was withdrawn for undisclosed reasons before being revived a month later.
The amended lawsuit also adds two new plaintiffs: Neuralink exec and former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis and Musk’s AI company, xAI.
In the complaint, Musk’s legal representatives argue that OpenAI is now “actively trying to eliminate competitors, such as xAI, by extracting promises from investors not to fund them”. The suit also alleges that OpenAI unfairly benefits from Microsoft’s infrastructure and experience.
OpenAI disagrees with Musk’s assertions. In October, it filed a motion for dismissal of the previous suit, calling it “blusterous”.
This week has proven to be yet another busy week for Musk: US president elect Donald Trump appointed him to the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He will co-lead the DOGE alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Since Trump’s election, Musk’s platform X has seen an exodus of followers to rival apps Bluesky and Threads.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
Elon Musk at a Neuralink event. Image: Steve Jurvetson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
