Musk lost a court case against OpenAI’s management in California
This is according to The Guardian.
A federal jury in California has ruled in favour of OpenAI’s management in the case brought by Elon Musk against the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, and OpenAI’s president, Greg Brockman.
The court in Oakland concluded that OpenAI’s executives had not breached their agreements with Musk and had not received any unlawful benefit during the company’s transformation into a commercial entity.
The verdict dealt a serious blow to Musk’s position. He had claimed that OpenAI had allegedly strayed from its original charitable mission.
What Musk demanded
In his lawsuit, Musk demanded the reallocation of $134 billion from OpenAI’s commercial division to the company’s non-profit arm.
He also insisted on the removal of Sam Altman and Greg Brockman from their executive positions.
The trial lasted three weeks. It became one of the most high-profile cases in the tech and AI sectors.
Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella all gave evidence in the case. During the hearings, the parties presented numerous internal emails, text messages and documents relating to the creation of OpenAI and subsequent changes to its structure.
Musk and OpenAI’s position
Musk claimed that he had allegedly been misled during the founding of OpenAI in 2015. According to him, the company was established as a non-profit project “for the benefit of humanity”, but the management subsequently changed course in pursuit of profit.
OpenAI categorically rejected these allegations. The company emphasised that Musk was aware of plans to establish a commercial division as early as the initial stages of OpenAI’s development.
OpenAI’s lawyers also argued that the conflict arose following Musk’s failed attempt to gain control of the company in 2018.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers noted that she agreed with the jury’s findings. Although the verdict is advisory in nature, the court’s final decision is expected to align with the jury’s position.
What was said during the hearings
During a tense hearing in California, Elon Musk claimed that Sam Altman had fraudulently obtained his donations by promising to develop safe artificial intelligence, but instead, according to Musk, had set up a private corporation for his own enrichment.
Musk also admitted that he had not studied the details of the contracts, as he had personal assurances from the founders that the project would retain its charitable status.
During a hearing on Tuesday, 5 May, OpenAI President Greg Brockman revealed new details of negotiations with Elon Musk that took place in 2017.
According to the testimony, Musk not only supported the startup’s transition to a commercial model but also attempted to single-handedly lead this process to fund his space ambitions.
As reported by ThePublic, Musk accused OpenAI of “stealing” the non-profit organisation.
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