Elon Musk has decided to drop his legal battle against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman. Musk had previously accused the organization of veering away from its original mission of creating AI for the betterment of humanity, alleging a breach of contract in the process.
The lawsuit, initially filed in a California state court in February under case number CGC24612746, was dismissed without prejudice, leaving room for Musk to potentially refile it in the future. This decision comes just before a scheduled hearing where the judge would have reviewed OpenAI’s request for dismissal.
Interestingly, Musk’s change of heart coincides with some rather unconventional statements he made recently, including threats to ban Apple devices from his companies should OpenAI integrate its technology deeply into Apple’s products.
Musk’s lawsuit had claimed that OpenAI had violated an agreement made with him and other founding members, which aimed to maintain the organization as a nonprofit and keep its technology open source. However, critics pointed out that Musk’s case was flawed, as it referenced a “Founding Agreement” that was not provided as evidence and seemed to rely on informal communications rather than a formal contract.
OpenAI swiftly refuted Musk’s allegations, asserting that there was no such agreement and accusing Musk of seeking undue control over the company, potentially through a merger with Tesla.
In the midst of this legal saga, Musk’s own AI venture, xAI, has been making strides. The company, which Musk founded last year, has developed the Grok AI chatbot, available to users with an X Premium subscription. Moreover, xAI recently secured a substantial $6 billion investment to finance the development of the high-powered chips necessary for its AI systems.
However, recent reports have surfaced suggesting that Musk redirected thousands of Nvidia H100 AI chips, originally reserved for Tesla, to xAI. This move has raised eyebrows and fueled speculation about the dynamics between Musk’s various ventures and their technological needs.
