Elon Musk wants to get Sam Altman removed as CEO, OpenAI calls it ‘harassment campaign’
Elon Musk has launched a fresh new attack on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and is now looking to get the OpenAI co-founder removed from his role at the company. The billionaire noted in a court filing on Tuesday that the goal of his lawsuit is to “unwind OpenAI’s for-profit conversion and restructuring.” Musk says this would require the removal of Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman from their leadership positions at the AI startup.
Musk also went on to note via his lawyer that OpenAI's status as a non-profit research organisation be restored.
Notably, Musk is suing OpenAI and its principal backer Microsoft over allegations that the AI startup that he helped co-found has strayed away from its original mission of developing AI for the benefit of humanity and has instead defrauded him by seeking to convert it into a for-profit entity.
Musk amends his lawsuit:
Musk has previously indicated in his lawsuit that he is looking to get up to $134 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft. However, the billionaire amended his lawsuit on Tuesday to note that he is not seeking a single dollar for himself but has instead requested the court to award any potential damages he might win to OpenAI's non-profit arm.
Musk is also asking that Altman and Brockman turn over any equity or other benefits to the charitable arm.
Musk's lawyer, Marc Toberoff, was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying, “He is asking the court to return everything that was taken from a public charity—and to make sure the people responsible are never in a position to do this again,”
“That was the essence of his complaint from the outset of this case, until OpenAI’s spin doctors got to work distorting it. This filing sets the record straight,” he added.
The amended filing by Musk comes just a day after OpenAI's Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon requested the attorneys general of California and Delaware to investigate Musk for potential “improper and anti-competitive behaviour”, Bloomberg reported.
OpenAI reacts to Musk's amended lawsuit:
OpenAI strongly reacted to the amended lawsuit by Musk, noting, “Today, at the eleventh hour, Elon lodged a court filing pretending to change his tune about attacking the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation.”
“The truth is that this case has always been about Elon generating more power and more money for what he wants. Having increasingly realised that his attempt to damage the nonprofit OpenAI Foundation rests on a baseless legal case, Elon is once again trying to change the narrative and save face as the trial approaches. His lawsuit remains nothing more than a harassment campaign that's driven by ego, jealousy, and a desire to slow down a competitor,” OpenAI added.