Musk Accuses OpenAI Of 'Prioritizing Profits Over Humanity'

On Thursday, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in the San Francisco Superior Court, alleging breach of contract.

In the lawsuit, Musk argues that Altman and OpenAI have violated an agreement made upon the formation of the artificial intelligence research company, which was to develop technology for the benefit of humanity, not profit.

Musk asserts that OpenAI's recent relationship with tech giant Microsoft has compromised the company's original commitment to the public and open-source general artificial intelligence.

In the lawsuit, Musk states: OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft. Under its new board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.

Musk levies accusations against OpenAI, including contract breach, violation of fiduciary duties, and unfair business practices, asking the company to return to open source. Musk also requests the court to issue an injunction to prohibit OpenAI, its president Gregory Brockman, CEO Sam Altman (co-defendants in the case), and Microsoft from profiting from the company's artificial general intelligence technology.

In the lawsuit, Musk states: 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 propriety 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.

Contrary to the Founding Agreement, Defendants have chosen to use GPT-4 not for the benefit of humanity, but as proprietary technology to maximize profits for literally the largest company in the world, he added.

In the suit, Musk also discussed the event from 2023 when Altman was abruptly fired and then reinstated. Musk argues Altman's displacement prompted Microsoft to step in and force members of the board attempting to oust him to resign. Musk alleges that the current board members are no longer scientists and researchers who support and understand this technology.

Musk adds: OpenAI, Inc.'s once carefully crafted non-profit structure was replaced by a purely profit-driven CEO and a Board with inferior technical expertise in AGI and AI public policy. The board now has an observer seat reserved solely for Microsoft.

Musk states that the discord between the board and Altman stems from the development of GPT-4 and its potential next-generation AGI technology, which Musk worries could endanger public safety.

Microsoft is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, having obtained an exclusive license for OpenAI's GPT-3 language model in 2020. Microsoft continues to hold rights to GPT-4, claiming that GPT-4 has not reached the level of AGI, which would prevent its licensing privileges.

Musk claims that Microsoft's control over Altman and the OpenAI board will prevent them from declaring GPT-4 as AGI, to maintain the technology's privatization and profitability.

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