Musk expands legal assault on OpenAI to also target Microsoft

Gerrit De Vynck, (c) 2024 , The Washington Post
·3-min read

SAN FRANCISCO - Billionaire entrepreneur and Donald Trump adviser Elon Musk broadened a federal lawsuit against OpenAI on Friday, alleging the ChatGPT maker has conspired with primary backer Microsoft to break antitrust laws as the nonprofit became more focused on making money ventures.

The amended version of a complaint Musk initially filed against OpenAI in February adds Microsoft and Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman, also a former member of OpenAI’s board, as defendants. It alleges that the Windows developer worked with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to try to turn it into a for-profit company that would benefit Microsoft.

Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.

Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI is part of a Federal Trade Commission investigation into Big Tech companies and their ties to emerging AI firms. It comes as Musk has rocketed to a central position in President-elect Donald Trump’s nascent administration, potentially giving him increased influence over government policy on antitrust and AI.

“Musk is determined to remedy the abuse of the OpenAI charity he co-founded and is adamant as to the need for immediate decisive action," said Marc Toberoff, a lawyer for Musk. "AI will change the world and how it is addressed today will reverberate for decades to come.”

Musk was a founding member and major financial backer of OpenAI in 2015, but he parted with the project a few years later and last year launched a competing AI venture, xAI.

He sued OpenAI in late February, alleging that it had broken its commitment to investors to serve as a nonprofit that would aim to benefit all of humanity. Altman and Greg Brockman, another OpenAI founder and senior executive, were named as defendants.

OpenAI responded by releasing emails allegedly showing Musk tried to take control of the AI developer and merge it with his electric car company, Tesla. Musk dropped the initial lawsuit in June, then refiled it as a federal suit in the Northern District of California in August.

The updated complaint filed Thursday that names Microsoft also claims that changes to OpenAI’s board made after Altman was fired and then reinstated last year leave the company “thoroughly compromised by a fully profit-driven CEO.”

OpenAI has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. “Elon’s third attempt in less than a year to reframe his claims is even more baseless and overreaching than the previous ones,” said Jason Deutrom, a spokesperson for OpenAI. A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment. A spokesperson for Hoffmann did not return a request for comment.

Beyond adding the antitrust allegations, Musk’s amended complaint cites news reports about OpenAI employees quitting the company over concerns that it is not working hard enough to keep its AI from causing harm. “The resignations largely appear to be in protest of Altman and OpenAI’s increasingly unfettered and conflicted pursuit of profits at the expense of safety,” the suit said.

OpenAI is seeking to restructure from a nonprofit into a more conventional company, freeing it from the oversight of its nonprofit board. Altman and other executives have said that the company needs to be able to make money to compete with tech giants such as Google and prevent them from controlling AI technology.

- - -

Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.

Related Content

The 10 best works of historical fiction in 2024

‘Welcome back’ to an ‘existential threat’

Trump allies push to punish Jack Smith in first test of retribution vow

Latest stories

  • Court tells Muslims preacher Firdaus Wong to scrub child conversion video

    KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — The High Court has instructed preacher Firdaus Wong to remove a video allegedly promoting secret u...

  • Explainer-After China's mineral export ban, how else could it respond to U.S. chip curbs?

    BEIJING (Reuters) -China has banned exports to the U.S. of some goods containing critical minerals while tightening exports on others, after U.S. curbs a day earlier on the Chinese chip industry. Following is background on export controls and other steps that analysts say Chinese authorities might take to safeguard China and its companies' interests. On Dec. 3 China banned exports to the U.S. of items related to gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials, the latest escalation of trade tensions between the countries ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office.

  • Latest US clampdown on China's chips hits semiconductor toolmakers

    (Reuters) -The United States on Monday launched its third crackdown in three years on China's semiconductor industry, curbing exports to 140 companies, including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group, among other moves. The effort to hobble Beijing's chipmaking ambitions also hits Chinese chip toolmakers Piotech, ACM Research and SiCarrier Technology with new export restrictions as part of the package, which also takes aim at shipments of advanced memory chips and more chipmaking tools to China.

  • Former ADOR boss Min Hee-jin files defamation suit against HYBE executives, Dispatch journalists after scathing ‘exposé’

    SEOUL, Dec 3 – Former music label ADOR chief executive Min Hee-jin has filed a defamation lawsuit against two senior com...

  • Tom Kerridge: NI rise will lead to ‘huge’ number of pub and restaurant closures

    The Government’s National Insurance rise will have a “catastrophic effect” on the hospitality sector, causing a “huge amount” of pub and restaurant closures, Tom Kerridge has warned.

  • Timothy Hutton Settles Lawsuit Against Leverage Producers for Cutting Him Out of Revival (Report)

    Timothy Hutton’s legal battle with the producers of Leverage has come to an end. A settlement has been reached in Hutton’s breach of contract lawsuit against Leverage producers Electric Entertainment for firing him from the revival Leverage: Redemption, our sister site Deadline reports. Terms of the settlement are confidential and still need to be approved …

  • 10% of Americans say they're wealthy: 3 ways they built wealth

    Only 10% of Americans consider themselves wealthy, a recent Fidelity study found. Fidelity's head of advanced wealth solutions David Peterson joins Wealth! Host Brad Smith to discuss the study's findings, how people define being wealthy, and three things they credit achieving wealthiness to. "The survey found that only 10% of Americans consider themselves wealthy today, and while it's probably not surprising that such a small number consider themselves wealthy, what may be surprising is that the number is consistent across income and asset levels," Peterson says, explaining, "What the survey found is that having a great deal of wealth doesn't necessarily determine whether someone actually feels wealthy." He says the study found that "for most Americans, the definition of what it means to be wealthy is relatively modest. For many, a major criterion for feeling wealthy is simply not living paycheck to paycheck." "The tenth who consider themselves wealthy, basically, there are three things that boil down to how they achieve [their wealth] in their minds. One is investing strategically. The other is saving from a young age. You can't beat the power of compounding, after all. And finally, it's consistently allocating part of their paycheck to savings, being really systematic about it." To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Wealth here. This post was written by Naomi Buchanan.

  • Nexperia to comply with U.S. restrictions on Chinese parent Wingtech

    Nexperia, a Dutch-based computer chip maker, will comply with U.S. restrictions after its Chinese parent company Wingtech was put on the U.S. Department of Commerce's "entity list", a spokesperson said on Tuesday. "The listing subjects Wingtech’s access to U.S. technology to licensing requirements," the spokesperson said. Nexperia is one of the world's largest makers of simple computer chips such as diodes and transistors, and this year it moved to expand operations in Hamburg, Germany.

  • China's SenseTime reshapes to focus on generative AI growth

    Loss-making Chinese AI company SenseTime Group said on Tuesday it has completed a major organizational restructuring aimed at ramping up its shift toward generative AI technologies. The Hong Kong-listed company, previously focused on computer vision and surveillance technologies, has accelerated its transformation into generative AI following the industry-wide surge triggered by OpenAI's ChatGPT. SenseTime was one of China's hottest AI firms but has fallen behind rivals amid the generative AI boom.

  • US expands list of Chinese technology companies under export controls

    The U.S. Commerce Department has expanded the list of Chinese technology companies subject to export controls to include many that make equipment used to make computer chips, chipmaking tools and software. The 140 companies newly included in the so-called “entity list” are nearly all based in China. The revised rules were posted Monday on the website of the U.S. Federal Register for publication later this week.

  • US job openings rose last month, though hiring slowed, in mixed picture for labor market

    The number of job postings in the United States rebounded in October from a 3 1/2 year low in September, a sign that businesses are still seeking workers even though hiring has cooled. Openings rose 5% to 7.7 million from 7.4 million in September, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

  • Musk dealt legal defeat in battle over $56bn Tesla pay deal

    Elon Musk has lost a legal bid to reinstate his huge $56bn pay deal at Tesla, even after shareholders backed the deal.

  • Sizzling valuations are no bar for Asia data centre deals as AI growth beckons

    Global investors are queueing up to invest in data centre operators in Asia Pacific either by buying stakes directly or via public offerings, unfazed by their rich valuations that are driven by demand for artificial intelligence-based services. Many industry executives say the regional data centres will continue to command high valuations due to the nascent nature of the industry and its growth outlook. Data centres house computer servers and equipment that companies use to process and store data.

  • EMCOR Stock Up 30% in the Past 3 Months: Is the Momentum Sustainable?

    Can EME's diverse exposure and record RPOs sustain its momentum? Here's why EME stock is worth a look.

  • Losses in China lead to $5 billion charge for General Motors as it cuts the value of its assets

    The poor performance of General Motors' Chinese joint ventures is forcing the company to write down assets and take a restructuring charge totaling more than $5 billion in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, GM will take $2.7 billion worth of restructuring charges, most of it during the fourth quarter. The noncash charges will reduce the company's net income, but they will not affect adjusted pretax earnings, GM said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • Zacks Industry Outlook Highlights NextEra, Southern, Vistra and Exelon

    NextEra, Southern, Vistra and Exelon have been highlighted in this Industry Outlook article.

  • Indonesia to increase local component requirement for smartphones

    Indonesia plans to increase requirements on local components for smartphones made and sold in the country, its deputy industry minister said on Tuesday, a move aimed at boosting the domestic manufacturing sector. The plan follows Indonesia's banning last month of sales of Apple's iPhone 16 after it failed to meet a requirement that smartphones sold domestically must comprise at least 40% locally-made parts.

  • K-drama actor Park Min-jae dies at 32 from cardiac arrest in China

    SEOUL, Dec 3 — Korean drama actor Park Min-jae, known for roles in titles such as Little Women and Mr. Lee, has reported...

  • Matthew Ko announces marriage and upcoming fatherhood at 40

    The former TVB actor shares intimate family moments as he celebrates new chapter in life

  • Singapore tycoon behind RM228m electronic scrap scam arrested in Johor after 19 years on the run

    SINGAPORE, Dec 4 — Singaporean businessman Ng Teck Lee, 58, and his wife, Thor Chwee Hwa, 55, were arrested in Malaysia...