On Oct. 8, OpenAI filed a motion to dismiss Elon Musk’s lawsuit against it. The artificial intelligence firm says Musk is using the court system to “harass” it amid a bid to bolster the fortunes of his own competing company, xAI.
Musk filed suit against OpenAI in February, alleging that the company had strayed from its “not-for-profit” roots. At the time, questions surrounding OpenAI’s potential pivot to a “for profit” model, as described in the lawsuit, spurred conversations throughout the AI community about the legality of OpenAI’s business model.
NYU professor Gary Marcus showing tacit agreement for Musk’s February lawsuit. Source: Gary Marcus
However, Musk rescinded that suit in June before filing a separate lawsuit in August.
Musk sues Altman, OpenAI
In the August suit, Musk’s legal team alleged that OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, “intentionally courted and deceived Musk, preying on Musk’s humanitarian concern about the existential dangers posed by artificial intelligence” and “assiduously manipulated Musk into co-founding their spurious non-profit venture, OpenAI, Inc.”
According to the Oct. 9 filing from OpenAI, the company is asking the judge presiding over the suit to dismiss the case outright. The firm’s legal team alleges that Musk is using the legal system to harass the company and that the billionaire’s claims have no legal merit.
OpenAI seeks dismissal
Per OpenAI’s legal team, the suit is “the latest move in Elon Musk’s increasingly blusterous campaign to harass OpenAI for his own competitive advantage.”
The filing also asserts that “Musk once supported OpenAI” in its mission, “but abandoned the venture when his bid to dominate it failed.” OpenAI also alleges, in the document, that Musk is using the legal system to help his own company compete:
“Since launching a competing artificial intelligence company, xAI, Musk has been trying to leverage the judicial system for an edge. The effort should fail; Musk’s complaint does not state a claim and should be dismissed.”
The motion to dismiss indicates that a court date of Nov. 12, at the federal courthouse in Oakland, California, has been set for the civil suit.
Magazine: Anti-aging tycoon Bryan Johnson almost devoted his life to crypto