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Musk vs. Altman: Tech CEOs head to court over the fate of OpenAI
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Elon Musk and Sam Altman speak at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Oct. 6, 2015, in San Francisco.
Key facts
- Elon Musk and Sam Altman speak at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on Oct. 6, 2015, in San Francisco
- Musk was the biggest individual financial backer of OpenAI early on, contributing more than $44 million to the startup, according to court documents
- OpenAI recently closed a $122 billion funding round and The Wall Street Journal reported that it is planning an initial public offering, potentially later this year
- The case is being tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland, with Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers presiding
Summary
Two titans of the tech world will face off in court starting on Monday. Elon Musk, of Tesla and SpaceX, is suing Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, in a high-stakes clash between former partners over the future of one of the world's most influential AI companies. Musk alleges he was duped when Altman transformed OpenAI from a nonprofit entity into a for-profit juggernaut. "This is a clash of two enormous personalities in Elon Musk and Sam Altman," said Casey Newton, a longtime tech journalist and founder of the tech newsletter Platformer.