Elon Musk Faces Countersuit from OpenAI
OpenAI has taken legal action against Tesla CEO Elon Musk, filing a countersuit to address what it characterizes as a consistent pattern of harassment. The suit aims to prevent Musk from any further “unlawful and unfair action” in the midst of ongoing litigation concerning the company’s future structure—a company that played a pivotal role in the AI revolution.
Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with CEO Sam Altman but left before its significant rise, recently launched his own AI venture, xAI. Tensions have escalated as Musk endeavors to oppose OpenAI’s shift to a for-profit model, which is essential for the company to achieve its ambitious $40 billion fundraising goal by the end of this year.
“Through press attacks, malicious campaigns broadcast to Musk’s more than 200 million followers on the social media platform he controls, a pretextual demand for corporate records, harassing legal claims, and a sham bid for OpenAI’s assets, Musk has tried every tool available to harm OpenAI,” OpenAI described in a filing in Musk’s existing lawsuit against them in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
OpenAI urged the judge to halt Musk from further attacks and to hold him accountable for the damage he has allegedly caused. The case is scheduled for a jury trial in the spring of next year.
In response, Musk’s legal team referred to a $97.4 billion unsolicited takeover bid from a Musk-led consortium earlier this year, which OpenAI had rejected. “Had OpenAI’s Board genuinely considered the bid as they were obligated to do, they would have seen how serious it was. It’s telling that having to pay fair market value for OpenAI’s assets allegedly ‘interferes’ with their business plans,” stated Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff.
On the social media platform X, owned by Musk, OpenAI commented, “Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit.” Musk’s xAI recently acquired X in a deal valuing the social media company at $33 billion, enabling the value of the artificial intelligence firm to be shared among co-investors in X.
Last year, Musk, who also serves as CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, initiated legal action against OpenAI and Altman, alleging that OpenAI deviated from its founding mission—to develop AI for the benefit of humanity, rather than corporate profit. Musk has not responded to requests for comment on the OpenAI filing.
OpenAI and Altman have denied these allegations, while Altman accuses Musk of attempting to stifle a competitor. The core issue in the lawsuit is the ChatGPT maker’s transition to a for-profit model, which the startup asserts is vital for securing additional capital and maintaining competitiveness in the costly AI race.
