The courtroom battle between Elon Musk and OpenAI has begun, and new details reveal that things got heated before the trial began. A new legal filing claims Musk tried to settle the dispute, but followed it up with a warning.
According to the filing, Musk contacted OpenAI’s president Greg Brockman just two days before the trial kicked off. He proposed that OpenAI should settle the case. Brockman responded by suggesting that both sides drop their lawsuits altogether.
However, what followed was not expected as Musk allegedly replied, ‘By the end of this week, you and Sam will be the most hated men in America. If you insist, so it will be.’
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The claims are part of a filing submitted by OpenAI’s legal team. The actual messages were not attached, and the filing mainly tried to convince the judge to allow the exchange as evidence. That request was denied, with the judge ruling the texts inadmissible.
After OpenAI made the alleged messages public, observers began questioning whether the case is purely about AI safety or also about rivalry and financial stakes, a point OpenAI raises in its countersuit (via TechCrunch).
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Musk has filed the lawsuit against OpenAI, along with its CEO Sam Altman and president Greg Brockman. He argues that the organisation he helped start was built on a promise to develop AI for public good, not profit.
According to Musk, that promise was broken when OpenAI created a for-profit arm and accepted major funding from Microsoft. He believes this shift goes against the company’s original mission.
Musk is seeking damages estimated between $134 billion and $150 billion. He has stated that any awarded amount should go to OpenAI’s charitable arm, not to him. He is also asking for leadership and structural changes, including removing Sam Altman as CEO and restoring OpenAI’s non-profit status.
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