Musk restarts lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman: Accusing them of using non-profit as a guise to deceive investors

A lawsuit filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California claims that Tesla CEO Musk has decided to reopen the lawsuit against artificial intelligence developer OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging being "manipulated and extorted" to participate in the founding of OpenAI.

Microsoft Battles Amazon! OpenAI Co-Founder Leaves Company to Join Competitor Anthropic, Clarifies Reasons for Departure

Elon Musk Sues Sam Altman Again: Alleged Investment Inducement

Specifically, the current lawsuit makes similar accusations as before, but there are still some new claims in the legal documents:

Musk Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman for Putting Profit before Open Source

Sam Altman and Greg Brockman Accused of Deceiving Musk into Investing in OpenAI

Firstly, Musk's new allegations target Altman and another OpenAI co-founder, Greg Brockman, for allegedly promoting "false humanitarianism and mission" to deceive and extort investments from Musk and other OpenAI investors.

In the lawsuit, it is emphasized that Musk lent his name to the company, invested significant time and tens of millions of dollars to support the company's non-profit mission, and helped recruit top AI scientists and researchers, only to be betrayed:

Altman and Brockman intentionally deceived Musk into participating in their falsely non-profit enterprise by promising a safer, more open, and non-profit-oriented operation, but once OpenAI's reputation significantly changed, Altman shifted towards profit-seeking.

The document also portrays this lawsuit as a textbook case of altruism and greed:

Altman colluded with others to deliberately please and deceive Musk, exploiting Musk's humanitarian concerns about the dangers of AI.

OpenAI Joins Microsoft in Abandoning Company Mission

Additionally, Musk reiterated that OpenAI betrayed its mission to benefit humanity when it signed a commercial partnership with Microsoft, alleging that the two companies established an opaque profit-driven subsidiary network for rampant self-trading:

Altman promised Musk that the non-profit structure preserved neutrality and security for human interests, not shareholder value. However, it turned out to be a ploy by Altman for the long con.

It is further added that "with Microsoft now a major investor in OpenAI, it has further solidified its power and position within the company."

OpenAI: Facts Speak for Themselves

In response, an OpenAI spokesperson reiterated the official statement from March when Musk first filed the lawsuit and stated:

As we mentioned in Musk's initial legal filing, although those documents were later withdrawn, the facts have already spoken for themselves.

It is reported that this statement indicates Musk was already aware of the profit-driven shift at OpenAI and even expressed agreement; in other words, Musk might just be unwilling to accept that he is not in the current role that Microsoft plays in relation to OpenAI.

Two months ago, on the eve of the scheduled hearing for the case, Musk's lawyers requested an unconditional withdrawal of the lawsuit, believed to be due to the absence of formal contract documents signed by all parties, making the legal basis of the lawsuit quite weak.

Retraction on the Eve of the Hearing? Musk Withdraws Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Sam Altman