Musk vs. Altman: Tech titans face off in court |
Musk vs. Altman: Tech titans face off in court
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are poised to face off in court Monday, as the years-long feud between the two tech titans comes to a head at a trial over the ChatGPT maker’s corporate structure.
Musk, who helped found OpenAI in 2015 before leaving and later launching his own AI company, has long appeared at odds with Altman, with the two often publicly clashing over social media.
The tech billionaire ratcheted up the dispute in 2024 by suing over OpenAI’s alleged shift away from its founding mission.
The trial will pit one tech leader against another in a legal battle that could have consequences for the rapidly changing and competitive landscape of AI. Jury selection begins Monday in Oakland, Calif.
OpenAI partnership devolves into feud
Musk and Altman founded OpenAI as a nonprofit in 2015 with former Stripe executive Greg Brockman, computer scientist Ilya Sutskever and others. The Tesla CEO joined forces with Altman and the others to launch the company as he voiced concerns about AI safety.
At the time, OpenAI maintained it wanted to advance AI in the way that is “most likely to benefit humanity as a whole,” arguing that its freedom from financial obligations allowed them to focus on a “positive human impact.”
Musk invested about $38 million in OpenAI from late 2015 through May 2017.
But by late 2017, the founders realized much more capital would be needed to develop AI in the ways they hoped, and they moved to create a for-profit entity, according to OpenAI.
Musk clashed with company executives about who would lead the company and its potential creation of a for-profit wing. He stepped down from OpenAI’s board in 2018, citing potential conflicts of interest with his work for Tesla.
OpenAI went........