Elon Musk has intensified his legal battle with OpenAI by filing a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking to prevent the artificial intelligence company from converting to a fully for-profit entity and alleging multiple anticompetitive practices.
Lawsuit targets OpenAI, CEO Sam AltmanPresident Greg Brockman, Microsoftand several board members, demanding a pause in the company’s structural transformation and business operations. Musk’s legal team says OpenAI has strayed significantly from its original nonprofit mission, which was to make AI research publicly available.
Key allegations include discouraging investors from funding OpenAI’s competitors, particularly Musk’s AI company xAI, and inappropriately sharing proprietary information with Microsoft. The motion claims that OpenAI obtained promises from investors not to support rival AI companies, a practice that Musk’s lawyers say violates antitrust regulations.
The lawsuit also highlights potential conflicts of interest, highlighting Sam Altman’s financial interests in Stripe, which was selected as OpenAI’s payment processor, and calling into question the relationships between OpenAI, Microsoft and board members directors like Reid Hoffman.
Musk, one of the original co-founders who left OpenAI in 2018, claims he was defrauded out of more than $44 million in donations. OpenAI dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless,” with a spokesperson describing it as Musk’s “fourth attempt” to challenge the company.
Despite the legal difficulties, xAI, Musk’s rival AI company, has reportedly secured $5 billion in funding, positioning itself as a formidable competitor in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
The court will now consider whether to grant the preliminary injunction, which could potentially halt OpenAI’s ongoing transition to a for-profit structure.