In a surprising development, Elon Musk has decided to withdraw his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. The lawsuit, originally filed in February, accused OpenAI of breaching its founding agreement and prioritizing profits over its mission to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.
Court documents filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday show that Musk’s attorneys requested the dismissal of the breach of contract lawsuit without prejudice. This means that while the lawsuit is being dropped for now, Musk retains the option to refile it in the future. Notably, Musk did not provide a public explanation for this sudden decision.
This move comes just a day before a federal judge was set to decide whether the case should proceed. It also follows Musk’s recent criticisms of Apple, where he threatened to ban Apple products from his companies if they integrated OpenAI’s technology.
Musk’s lawsuit alleged that OpenAI had deviated from its original mission, becoming a closed-source, profit-driven entity through exclusive licensing agreements with Microsoft. He claimed this was contrary to OpenAI’s intended purpose of developing artificial intelligence for the public good. Musk’s complaint cited a “Founding Agreement,” though the details of this agreement were not made public.
In response, OpenAI released internal emails suggesting that Musk was also concerned with the profitability of the venture. The company denied the existence of any binding founding agreement and accused Musk of attempting to gain control over OpenAI for personal gain.
The dismissal of the lawsuit marks another chapter in the contentious relationship between Musk and OpenAI, a company he helped co-found in 2015 before departing in 2018. Recently, Musk launched his own AI startup, xAI, which has introduced its Grok AI chatbot and secured substantial funding.
While the lawsuit has been withdrawn for now, the potential for future legal disputes remains, given the ongoing tensions and competition between Musk and OpenAI.
