Business · The Guardian Technology
The bitter rivalry between two of the tech world’s most powerful men arrives in court this week
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Musk’s suit, filed in 2024, focuses on the formative years of OpenAI when he, Altman and others co-founded the artificial intelligence company as a nonprofit with a grand purpose.
Key facts
- Musk has called Altman a “liar”, “swindler” and “Scam Altman”, while Altman has replied to Musk’s posts saying “ambien tweeting is a dangerous game” and taunted his rival by posting a screenshot
- Musk railed on the chatbot, calling it “woke” and told Tucker Carlson on Fox News that OpenAI programmers were “training the AI to lie
- Musk’s complaint opens with the line “Elon Musk’s case against Sam Altman and OpenAI is a textbook tale of altruism versus greed
- A group of tech entrepreneurs and researchers, including Musk, Altman and Brockman, founded OpenAI in 2015
Summary
The bitter rivalry between two of the tech world’s most powerful men arrives in court this week, as Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI heads to trial in Oakland, California. Musk alleges that Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, broke the company’s founding agreement by restructuring the company and converting much of it to a for-profit enterprise. While the central disagreement may concern convoluted corporate structures and contractual agreements, the trial itself promises to be an explosive high point in the feud between the two tech billionaires. The case also carries sizable stakes for OpenAI, which is expected to go public later this year at about a $1tn valuation.