Elon Musk files lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for tricking him

Elon Musk has filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over his involvement in the founding of OpenAI and the later release of ChatGPT.

Elon Musk files lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for tricking him
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Tech and Science Editor
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Elon Musk has filed a new lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for allegedly being tricked into funding what turned into a for-profit business.

Elon Musk files lawsuit against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for tricking him 651156

The new lawsuit comes after Musk dropped a previous lawsuit back in June, and much like the previous lawsuit, Musk's legal team alleges Altman and OpenAI deceived Musk by "preying on Musk's humanitarian concern about the existential dangers posed by artificial intelligence." The new lawsuit is much larger than the previous one and alleges Musk agreed to fund OpenAI with $44.6 million between 2016 and 2020 under the assumption that OpenAI was going to use the overall initiative of open-sourcing artificial intelligence development.

However, according to the suit the Altman and OpenAI made promises to Musk they intentionally knew they weren't going to keep, and that Musk's funding was misappropriated for purposes that would result in for-profit business ventures. Musk has previously stated it was very important for OpenAI's research to be publicly available, or open-source, hence the name - OpenAI. Additionally, the lawsuit points out OpenAI's articles describing its mission to make its technology available to the public.

That didn't pan out as OpenAI refused to make its AI models from GPT-4 into the future, unavailable to the public. The Musk-suit also claims OpenAI used the backing of Musk as a way to gain "connections, credibility, and clout."

Musk's lawsuit alleges he was "betrayed by Altman and his accomplices. The perfidy and deceit are of Shakespearean proportions." As for what Musk wants, the lawsuit doesn't state any specific amount of money as the alleged damage "cannot be reasonably or adequately measured or compensated in money damages."

Musk wants "constructive trust" of all that OpenAI has gained as a result of his initial investment, along with all the profits, treble damages, punitive damages, legal fees, and the ultimate push - an end of the listening deal between Microsoft and OpenAI, a deal worth approximately $10 billion.

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Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms.

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