In a dramatic turn of events, Elon Musk has taken legal action against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, along with other parties, citing a breach of contractual agreements dating back to the establishment of the ChatGPT-maker in 2015. The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in San Francisco, claims that the technology giant, originally envisioned as a non-profit organisation for the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) for the betterment of humanity, has strayed from its altruistic roots.
According to legal documents, Altman, alongside OpenAI's co-founder Greg Brockman, initially approached Musk to create an open-source entity dedicated to developing AI technology for the greater good. However, the lawsuit alleges that OpenAI's shift towards profit-seeking ventures violates the terms of the original agreement, as asserted by Musk's legal representatives.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but resigned from its board in 2018, is renowned for his involvement in groundbreaking ventures such as Tesla and his acquisition of Twitter for a staggering $44 billion in October 2022.
The dispute comes amidst the meteoric rise of ChatGPT, OpenAI's flagship chatbot, which quickly ascended to become the world's fastest-growing software application within six months of its launch in November 2022. Its unprecedented success not only revolutionized the landscape of conversational AI but also spurred a wave of rival offerings from tech giants like Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as a plethora of startups eager to capitalise on the burgeoning market.
Since its inception, ChatGPT has found applications across various industries, from document summarisation to computer code generation, igniting fierce competition among Big Tech companies striving to unveil their own generative AI solutions.