OpenAI Raises the Stakes in Legal War with Elon Musk by Publishing Trove of Emails

In a surprising move, OpenAI — the AI company behind ChatGPT — has published a trove of emails from Elon Musk’s early days with the organization, escalating the legal battle between the two parties.

CNN reports that the ongoing feud between OpenAI and Elon Musk has taken a dramatic turn, as the artificial intelligence company has released a series of explosive emails that seemingly contradict Musk’s claims against the organization. The move comes in response to Musk’s recent lawsuit alleging that OpenAI has strayed from its original nonprofit mission in pursuit of profit.

The emails come after Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming that the company’s change away from its nonprofit roots was a “betrayal.”

The emails, some of which are partially redacted, paint a different picture of Musk’s stance on OpenAI’s financial ambitions. In a November 2015 email to CEO Sam Altman, Musk, who was a co-founder of OpenAI, argued that the company needed to raise significantly more than $100 million to avoid sounding “hopeless.” He suggested a staggering $1 billion funding commitment and promised to cover any shortfall.

However, OpenAI claims that Musk failed to follow through on his promise, contributing only $45 million while other donors raised $90 million. Lawyers representing Musk have declined to comment on these allegations. In another email from February 2018, Musk proposed that Tesla, his electric car company, should acquire OpenAI, suggesting it was the only viable path forward for the AI firm. When the company refused, Musk left OpenAI later that year.

Perhaps the most damning email came in December 2018, when Musk warned Altman and other executives that OpenAI would become irrelevant “without a dramatic change in execution and resources.” He insisted that the company needed “billions per year immediately or forget it,” adding, “I really hope I’m wrong.”

OpenAI executives heeded Musk’s advice and formed OpenAI LP, a for-profit entity within the larger company’s structure, in 2019. This move propelled OpenAI from near-worthlessness to a staggering $90 billion valuation in just a few years, with Altman widely credited as the mastermind behind this transformation.

Microsoft has since committed $13 billion in a close partnership with OpenAI, further solidifying the company’s financial success. In response to Musk’s lawsuit, the company maintains that it has not diverged from its mission and that its technology is broadly available, improving people’s lives while upholding safety standards.

Read more at CNN here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.