Elon Musk Claims He Does Not Use A Computer In OpenAI Lawsuit

Elon Musk’s legal team has made a surprising claim that the billionaire “does not use a computer” in response to accusations from OpenAI that Musk failed to comply with the discovery process in his lawsuit against the company. This assertion comes as part of Musk’s broader legal battle, which accuses OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, of deviating from their original nonprofit mission.

In a letter to the judge overseeing the OpenAI case in Oakland, Musk’s attorney, Jaymie Parkkinen, accused OpenAI of making false statements. The company had asserted that Musk’s legal team had “no plans to collect any documents” from either Musk himself or xAI, his competing artificial intelligence firm. Parkkinen disputed this claim, stating that Musk’s lawyers had informed OpenAI that searches were being conducted on Musk’s mobile phone and that the billionaire did not use a computer.

The filing reads, “Plaintiffs sent Defendants a letter informing them that Plaintiffs were conducting searches of Mr. Musk’s mobile phone, having searched his emails, and that Mr. Musk does not use a computer.” However, there is substantial public evidence suggesting that Musk does indeed use a computer. For instance, just last month, Musk posted on X, “Still using my ancient PC laptop with the @DOGE sticker made long ago by a fan.” In a separate post in December 2024, Musk shared an image of a computer, stating, “This is a pic of my laptop.” Additionally, in a February post, Musk announced, “Just bought a new PC laptop.”

Several X employees, speaking anonymously, confirmed that while Musk typically prefers working from his phone, they had seen him using a laptop on occasion. This discrepancy between Musk’s public statements and his legal team’s claims raises questions about the accuracy of the information presented in the court filings.

The ongoing legal battle between Musk and OpenAI centers around Musk’s accusation that his former colleagues have betrayed the company’s founding mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco, Musk claimed that OpenAI has effectively become a “closed-source” arm of Microsoft, prioritizing profit over public good. Musk’s claims against OpenAI include breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair business practices. He demands that the company revert to open-source and seeks an injunction to prevent OpenAI executives from profiting from artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The filing alleges that OpenAI’s latest model, GPT-4, may qualify as AGI, and its design remains secret due to commercial interests. Musk stated in the suit, “The internal details of GPT-4 are known only to OpenAI and, on information and belief, to Microsoft. GPT-4 is hence the opposite of ‘open AI.’ And it is closed for proprietary commercial reasons: Microsoft stands to make a fortune selling GPT-4 to the public, which would not be possible if OpenAI—as it is required to do—makes the technology freely available to the public.”

Musk, who contributed over $44 million to the nonprofit, argues that his support has been misused to serve a for-profit venture now valued at $80 billion. He likened the situation to donating to a nonprofit whose mission is to protect the Amazon rainforest, only to have the nonprofit create a for-profit logging company that uses the donations to clear the rainforest. This analogy underscores Musk’s frustration with what he perceives as a betrayal of OpenAI’s original mission.