THe fell from the failed attempt of the Openai Board of CEO of Fire Sam Altman Last November, took an unexpected turn Thursday, in events that could have a significant impact on the future of the company and the wider world of artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk has filed a legal action Against Openai before a court in San Francisco, alleging that Altman and the co-founder Greg Brockman violated the founding mission of Openai to develop AI in complete safety and for the benefit of humanity.
The billionaire owner of SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter) co -founded Openai alongside Altman and Brockman in 2015, but moved away from the company in 2018. (Musk launched his own IA company, xai Last summer.) Musk disagreed with the plan of Altman and Brockman to go to the opening of a non -profit organization to a for -profit company, and before resigning, would have mounted a unsuccessful Awarding to settle as CEO. Musk continues Altman, Brockman and several of Openai’s commercial entities for breach of contract, violation of the fiduciary obligation and unfair commercial practices, requesting unpertified damages above $ 105,000.
Find out more: Inside Elon Musk’s struggle for the future of AI
The trial, however, also constitutes a more substantial affirmation which – if the Superior Court of San Francisco – could fundamentally reshape the way Openai and its partner Microsoft do business. (Microsoft has invested $ 13 billion in Openai.)
First, the crucial context: as part of their partnership agreement, Microsoft has exclusive commercial rights on the intellectual property of Openai, including algorithms behind Chatgpt and its successor GPT-4. But there is a notable warning: these commercial rights only apply to “pre-agi technology”. And it is the board of directors of Openai which has the right to determine when AGI –Artificial general intelligenceOr an AI system that can perform economically precious tasks similar to a human – has been reached.
In November 2023, the Board of Directors of Openai dismissed Altman. During the five days that followed, Microsoft and Openai employees applied significant pressure to the board of directors to cancel this decision, finally successfully. Altman returned as CEO, and all the members of the board of directors except one who had voted to oust Altman were themselves withdrawn. (Altman and Brockman were also withdrawn from the Board of Directors.) Microsoft, who had no headquarters before on the board of directors, received an observer position without voting power. These events, according to Musk, were made up of a “coup d’etat” which had the effect of guaranteeing the new Openai card, which, according to the pursuit allowing Microsoft to continue to take advantage of technology.
“To date, the Openai website, Inc. continues to profess that its charter is to ensure that AG” benefits all of humanity, “said the trial. “In reality, however, Openai, Inc. was transformed into a closed source de facto Subsidiary of the largest technological company in the world: Microsoft. As part of his new advice, he is not only developing, but in fact acts an act to maximize Microsoft’s profits, rather than for the benefit of humanity. »»
OPENAI did not immediately respond to a request for comments. The new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bret Taylor, said in a statement in November that the new board of directors “built a board of directors of exceptional qualified individuals” focused on the OpenAi mission. To similar claims made by Musk in the past, Altman said Last year: “I like the guy. I think he is completely wrong about this thing … He can say what he wants, but I’m proud of what we are doing, and I think we are going to make a positive contribution to the world, and I try to stay above all. “
Find out more: CEO of the year 2023: Sam Altman
Musk’s trial is looking for “a judicial determination according to which the GPT-4 constitutes an artificial general intelligence and is thus outside the scope of the Openai license to Microsoft”, citing an article written by researchers from Microsoft who claim that The tool is “an early (but always incomplete) version of an AG system. He also requests an order from the court prohibiting OpenAI from using its assets “for the financial benefit” of Microsoft or itself, and a separate judicial order forcing Openai to publish its technology to the public.
Musk, supports the trial separately, was the engine of the creation of Openai in 2015 as a non -profit research organism dedicated to the construction of AG for the benefit of humanity. He and Altman feared that Google, the main laboratory of AI at the time, did not prioritize technology security. Musk donated $ 44 million, the majority of the species necessary to open the soil, according to the trial, and helped the non -profit recruit which directs the researchers of the AI.
“Imagine a donation to a non -profit organization whose assertive mission is to protect the Amazon forest, but then the non -profit organization creates an Amazonian for lucrative journalization company which uses the fruits of donations to erase the tropical forest “Indicates the trial. “This is the story of Openai.”