Elon Musk files lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman
What's the story
Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, its CEO Sam Altman, and others citing an alleged breach of contract.
The suit, submitted in San Francisco, alleges that OpenAI's profit-driven focus violates the original agreement to establish an open-source, non-profit organization for the "benefit of humanity."
Musk, who co-founded the ChatGPT-maker in 2015, left OpenAI's board in 2018.
Dispute
Origins of ChatGPT's rapid growth
The lawsuit reveals that Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman initially pitched the idea of a non-profit artificial intelligence venture to Musk.
Since its November 2022 debut, ChatGPT has become the world's fastest-growing software application, inspiring Microsoft, Alphabet, and various start-ups to develop competing chatbots.
These rivals have raised billions in funding by capitalizing on the excitement surrounding generative AI.
Possibilities
Wide adoption of ChatGPT and big tech's AI race
Companies have embraced ChatGPT for tasks such as summarizing documents and writing computer code, sparking a race among Big Tech firms to introduce their own generative AI products.
The outcome of this legal dispute could potentially influence the future trajectory of AI development and its applications across various industries.
Hard feelings
Musk's aversion to OpenAI
Musk has never felt shy about expressing his aversion to OpenAI and ChatGPT. He has repeatedly indulged in trading jibes ever since OpenAI started getting popular.
However, Musk's reservation about Altman capitalizing on what was supposed to be an open-source venture falls short of earnest logic.
The Tesla boss had himself launched a profit-making, closed-sourced AI company called xAI in 2023.
He also owns Optimus which makes humanoid robots based on artificial intelligence.