Musk sues maker of ChatGPT for putting profit first
The Tesla boss is suing OpenAI and Sam Altman, alleging the maker of ChatGPT has abandoned plans to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
Elon Musk is suing OpenAI and Sam Altman, its chief executive, alleging that the maker of ChatGPT has abandoned plans to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
Mr Musk invested in OpenAI when it was launched but claims the company has breached its contractual obligations by seeking to maximise profits for Microsoft, its business partner.
Microsoft owns 49 per cent of OpenAI after making a $US10bn ($15.4bn) investment in January 2023. The partnership deal came in the months after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT large-language model prompted companies to start exploring ways to harness the power of AI technologies. Microsoft also has a seat on the board of OpenAI.
Mr Musk’s lawsuit alleges Mr Altman had approached him about forming a “non-profit AI lab” before OpenAI’s launch in 2015.
The lawsuit alleges that they had agreed the technology would be for the benefit of humanity and that this agreement was formalised in OpenAI’s Certificate of Incorporation, stating that “the corporation is not organised for the private gain of any person”. The legal case also says that OpenAI’s algorithms would be available to the wider public.
Mr Musk, 52, has said that he invested more than $US44m based on promises of OpenAI becoming a non-profit organisation. He accuses Mr Altman, 38, of setting the agreement “aflame” by forming a partnership with Microsoft and by refusing to publish details about GPT-4, which the lawsuit described as OpenAI’s “most powerful language model yet”.
The filing said: “At this time, Mr Altman caused OpenAI to radically depart from its original mission and historical practice of making its technology and knowledge available to the public. GPT-4’s internal design was kept and remains a complete secret except to OpenAI — and, on information and belief, Microsoft … On information and belief, this secrecy is primarily driven by commercial considerations, not safety.”
The European Commission is investigating whether Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI represents a breach of antitrust rules. The Competition and Markets Authority in Britain has opened a similar investigation to establish if a merger has taken place by stealth and can be considered to be under common control.
Microsoft’s AI advances helped to lift the group’s second-quarter revenues to $62bn. The group has been rolling out an AI tool that can draft emails, make presentations and collate meeting highlights. The Copilot tool costs $US30 a month and early sales of the product showed up in the company’s commercial sales of Office software, where revenue grew by 17 per cent.
Analysts at Wedbush have said that the technology could increase Microsoft’s revenues by about $25 million. Satya Nadella, 56, the chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, said Copilot was “making the age of AI real for people and businesses everywhere”.
OpenAI declined to comment on Mr Musk’s actions.
THE TIMES, LONDON
More Coverage
Tonagh quits ABC board early
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and an independent panel will now need to find a replacement for the ABC’s deputy chairman just months out from a federal election.
The Australian’s 50 Best Photos of 2024
From the US election to the Paris Olympics, from natural disasters to wars, and from tragedies to triumphs, as well as the 60th Anniversary of The Australian, 2024 was the best of times and worst of times.