In it’s first public remarks since Elon Musk alleged in a lawsuit that the artificial intelligence giant prioritizes “profit over humanity,” OpenAI asserted that the tech mogul attempted to secure “full control” of the company six years ago by proposing a merger with Tesla.
The creators of ChatGPT mentioned the accusation in a blog post on Tuesday evening, stating, “We plan to file motions to dismiss all of Elon’s claims,” which include allegations that Sam Altman has steered the company away from its original mission by focusing on profit rather than humanity.
In early February 2018, the same period when Musk departed OpenAI, allegedly due to disagreements regarding the deal Altman negotiated with Microsoft, he “forwarded us an email proposing that OpenAI should ‘attach to Tesla as its cash cow,' noting that it was ‘exactly right,'” as mentioned in OpenAI's blog post.
The OpenAI team further disclosed Musk's pledge to provide a $1 billion funding commitment to the company.
In his complaint filed on February 29 in California's Superior Court, Musk highlighted that OpenAI's certificate of incorporation specifies that its activities are not “organized for the private gain of any person.”
The court document, which requests a jury trial and a court mandate for OpenAI to uphold its purported commitment to serve the public rather than Microsoft, also asserts that the AI company now aims “to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity.”
